Moonlight Sonata
by Blair Rocket
Summary: A new problem has arisn that could forever change how the Scouts view the past.... And will change the future. The Senshi are in a race with the Enemy to find.... a tratior scout?! Please R&R, thanks!
1. An Introduction

An Introduction.

Yes, there is an introduction. If you are the sort who doesn't care for introductions, please feel free to skip right on to the next segment. You won't be missing anything. I promise. But I do feel that a few things need to be said.

Firstly, this isn't a work entirely by myself. It is a work that is being written by two people, only one of whom is me. The other author of this lovely (long) story is the lovely Mi-chan. Seeing as I am the only one of the two of us with an account on FanFiction.net, we agreed that it would be alright to post under my name. But credit must be given where credit is due, ne? So. If you are interested in contacting the other author, her e-mail address is

MiharaKamikazi@ aol.com

There. Now that that's been taken care of, we shall move on to the next point. 

Moonlight Sonata is an unfinished work. I wanted to put it up here, because the chances that it will be finished anytime soon are… Ahem… Slim, to say the least. But we have wonderful endurance. We have been working on this for… Ah, say two years at least now, and we haven't given up. If anything, we have grown more committed to it. Er… I'm digressing. I wanted to put it up, because I believe that if we got feed back, it might spur us on to writing not only faster, but also better. We have, oh say, around twenty arcs planned. We've finished one (the one that is up as of now) and started the second. So any feed back on what I put up for us would be greatly appreciated. Thanks ever so.

Ah. Thirdly- Moonlight Sonata is a Break Away story. That is to say, it takes all the information given about a certain series (Sailor Moon, in this case), but only up to a certain point in said series. Most notably in our case is that we don't use the fifth television season in anyway. At least not as of now. We also tend to use the manga more than the anime for reference. 

In addition to being a Break Away, this is also a Cross over. You will find such series as Ranma ½, Pokemon, and several others (if we stay on track, that is) included in this story. 

And of course, the final point.

Moonlight Sonata has its own web page. That is where we will be putting up fan art, finished chapters, and all of that good stuff. If you really get attached to this story, then you might want to bookmark that page. It's located at:

http://www.geocities.com/mihara_kamikazi/

Indeed.

So, now, please enjoy Moonlight Sonata.

~Blair Rocket

DISCLAIMER

Sailor Moon, Pokemon, Ranma ½, and any other copyrighted titles or other mentioned properties do not belong to me, Mi-chan, or any one else bescides those who truly own them. Wow. I'm sure you're all surprised now, aren't you. Well, it's the truth, as much as I don't want to believe it…. You know, you could stop rubbing it in my face all the time. Why can't you just leave me be, in my own little room, pretending that I own these things?! Why?!……..

……..

………I think I need a hug………


	2. Chapter One

The inner and outer senshi starred at each other through a field of unbreakable silence. They had gathered in the apartment which was shared by  the outer senshi during the school year, so that Hotaru, Michiru and Haruka could have easer access to their various schools. Setsuna had called the meeting, but she had yet to show up. Such was the way of the Guardian of Time.

Hotaru shifted restlessly in her seat, and cleared her throat. "Is anybody actually aware of why this meeting was called?" 

"Nope." Dolefully sighed Bunny.

"What does she know?" Luna pondered.

Tension hung like fog from a port, heavy and uneasy.

"I have it!" exclaimed the celestial white feline.

"Huh? What?" questioned Ami.

"Oh..." Artemis backed out from under the couch. "Nothing important. Diana lost her bell the last time she was here, and I've just found it." He blushed, the colour somehow tinting his silky white fur pink.

Just then, the front door opened, and Setsuna walked in, looking her normal gloomy self. 

Haruka raised an eyebrow. "So what kept you this time?"

"I had certain.... Problems I had to deal with before I could come. I'm sorry to keep you waiting."

Haruka snorted. "You would think that the Guardian of Time could be _on_ time, wouldn't you."

To every ones surprise, the normally indifferent Setsuna gave Haruka a deep scowl. "I'm sorry. But I had to deal with a particular deity who doesn't get along well with me."

Haruka, taken back from a moment, bowed her head in apology. "S-sumimasen" she said silently.

The scowl disappeared and Setsuna sat down next to Makoto. "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have snapped. I've just been under a lot of stress lately. A new problem has arisen, and I believe it's going to take all we have- and more- to fix it."

"What's the problem? A new enemy?" Minako asked, excited, and sitting on the edge of her seat.

Setsuna frowned. "I don't' know. Let me tell you what has happened. You see, it was just after Small Lady and Diana went back to the future the last time. I was trying to contact King Endymion, but I couldn't."

Hotaru frowned. "What do you mean, 'couldn't'?"

"I couldn't communicate with King Endymion. It's as if I no longer can travel?" spoke Setsuna.

"Maybe you just miss Small Lady." chimed Makoto. "I know what that's like." She said, thinking of her parents. "Rose tea? I'll make it!" She offered, trying to shake aside her sudden emotion.

"Yes!" Cried Bunny.

"Possibly. Maybe I do miss Small Lady." Setsuna's frown deepened. "But that doesn't change the fact that when I sensed a bit of a... Disturbance... in the time flow, when I tried to exit the Time Plain, into Neo Crystal Tokyo, I couldn't." Her eyes darkened. "It's like... The future's... Not there..."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Days passed, lengthening with the start of spring. Flowers bloomed, tossing feelings of rebirth into the air.

"Ahh, beautiful!" Exclaimed Makoto from her terrace.

"Did you know that at this time..." Began Ami.

"Oh, come on Ami, not today!" moaned Rei, standing in the light of her Shinto Fire Curse. "It's to beautiful out to be worrying about studying."

"Anyway," italicized Ami, "only certain plants..."

"Woah, not today, Ami!" Yelled Bunny.

"I've been thinking about what Setsuna was talking about." Minako spoke. "Aren't you guys worried about what she was saying? And Michiru mentioned the other day that Setsuna's gone again. I mean, without Sailor Pluto, we can't just occasionally check up on the 30th century." She looked up with a face full of woe.

"And what about Chibi Usa? What if she's in Danger?" Cried Bunny. She fall to her knees because of 'lack' of love. "Well," she said standing up, "at least she won't be hanging on Mamo-chan..." At this point she fell again, crying out for Chibi Usa.

"Oh, shut it, ditz!" demanded Rei. Then, her expression softened. "I'm sorry." she said with her head hanging, as she regretted her snap. "But we're all on Pins and Needles here, and crying's not going to fix anything!"

When the inner senshi meeting had concluded, Bunny and Minako started to the arcade.

"I think we should find out what's going on with Setsuna's problem." said Ami as Makoto closed and locked her door.

"Uh-huh. And if someone's doing this to her, they'll pay!" Makoto growled, clenching her fist.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"It's been quiet." Michiru commented to her lover, as the evening sun set, turning the sky a brilliant violet colour. "Setsuna hasn't been home since that meeting. The others don't seamed very concerned, but..."

"I know. Knowing Setsuna, she could be anywhere, anytime, doing anything. But she seamed so worried at the meeting. This can't be good." The imposter bishonen hugged Michiru from behind resting her head on Michiru's shoulder.

Then, with out warning, both were struck with a felling of impending evil. Across Tokyo, a tea cup shattered, spilling it's content, as Mamoru was hit with the exact same feeling. Rei dropped the broom she had been sweeping the temple floor with.

"So..." Michiru sighed, once she and Haruka had recovered.

"They've arrived!" Mamoru hissed, as he plunged his burning hand from the spilled tea water under the faucet, while at the same time invoking his healing talents.

"A new....enemy..." Rei whispered into the still air.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Pluto Planet Power, MAKE UP!" 

As the transformation ended, as the day of the original meeting came to a close, Sailor Pluto walked into a field.

_"This isn't it,"_ she thought to herself. _"What am I looking for?"_ Her head began to pound, a sudden head ache springing up.

"Just..." said a voice.

"Who's there?" Commanded Sailor Pluto, her free hand holding her throbbing temples.

"Just...me." Replied the voice.

"What do you mean, 'me'?" Questioned the scout.

"You know with in you, Guardian of Time. You know."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Bunny, get up!" Yelled Luna.

"I'm getting up!" Screamed Bunny in reply.

"You've said that about 90 times!"

"And you believed me?" Questioned Bunny. She climbed out of the bed trying not to wake Mamoru. "I love you Mamo-chan." said Bunny, passionately, but gently, kissing his forehead.

"Bunny! The Market will be closed by the time you're ready!"

"Coming!"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Where are you taking me?" Hotaru eagerly questioned Michiru and Haruka, as they walked through the open air of the Saturday market place.

Haruka winked. "Now. If we told you that, it wouldn't be a surprise, now would it?"

"Patience." Michiru said simply, smiling.

The streets were filled with noise. Most notably, was that of the vendors.

"Get your Good-Luck-Charms, Good-Luck-Charms here!"

Okinomiaki! Made special for each order!"

"Roses! Daises! Lilies! Beautiful, fragrant flowers!"

"Hey, you, Miss," one vendor cried out to Michiru, "Do you feel ugly when facing others? I recommend you use this charm for beauty. Just 2,000(Y)!" the man winked. "And I'm sure your boy-friend there wouldn't object, ne?" he said, referring to Haruka, who was wearing one of her more masculine outfits.

Hotaru and Michiru struggled to contain their laughter at the mistaken gender, while Haruka snapped at the vender "Buzz off!"  

Just then, the cheerful shouts of the venders, and the noises of the busy shoppers calling out to those they recognized, turned into screams of terror. People in front of them started running toward them, shouting and screaming all the time.

Haruka reached out and grabbed a man who was fleeing by his collar. "What's happened?" she demanded.

"A-a-a-a Monster! In the marketplace!"

"Haruka's grip on the man's collar tightened, but she still managed to let the man go.

"So." Michiru's smile had been replaced by a frown. "They've finally shown themselves."

As an unseen signal passed between the three, they dashed into a deserted alleyway in complete silence. Then, all at the same time, they cried out,

"Neptune Planet Power..."

"Uranus Planet Power..."

"Saturn Planet Power..."

"MAKE UP!"

As soon as the beautiful transformations had completed themselves, three fourths of the outer senshi dashed out to meet the threat.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Oh, wow, Makoto! Look! Ice cream!" Bunny grabbed the taller girl's arm. "I would kill for a triple scoop cone right now!"

Makoto raised an eyebrow. "I thought we were here looking for a plant for your science class homework."

Bunny blushed. "Well, yeah. But it's _ice cream_!"

Makoto groaned, and was about to say something when a huge beast like creature landed on the ground directly in front of them. It looked something like a demon-wolf man, with glittering, sharp teeth, blood red eyes, and matted fur, darker than the darkest night. It stood erect, but hunched over, so that its clawed paw-hands almost touched the ground.

"Yoma!" Bunny shouted, as the market place erupted into screams of panic and terror.

The beast snarled, and turned towards Bunny. Then, to her surprise, it spoke. 

"Ahh... Such pure energy.... I must have it!" Its voice was low, and thick from its throat.

"_Nani?!_" Bunny screamed, and turned to run, but the Yoma jumped over her head, and landed in front of her, grinning evilly. Bunny gasped, and reflexively took a step backwards. Unfortunately, in her usual klutz like manner, she tripped, and fell on her butt.

The Yoma laughed, a horrible grating sound. Then it opened its huge jaws, and leaned towards Bunny's head.

"Hey! Why don't you leave her alone, you big, ugly throw-rug!" Makoto delivered a series of powerful kicks and punches to the Yoma's back.

The Yoma reacted as if all it had felt was a slight breeze on it's back. It turned, and snarled at Makoto. "How dare you even try to come between me and such a beautiful, pure energy." Then, to her surprise, the Yoma smiled. "But... You, too, have beautiful energy. I must have it!" The Yoma lunged for her.

"World... SHAKING!"

The ground quaked violently as the single ringed planet plasma like blast crashed into the Yoma. It, at first, cried out in pain, as it's own power was distorted.

The monster flew back, just to leap to its feet and deliver a tackle to Sailor Uranus, dislocating her shoulder. 

"What goes around, comes around, brat!" scolded the wolf-like creature.

Suddenly, a bright beam of light covered the block. 

"Jupiter Planet Power, MAKE UP!" cried the new voice as the Yoma covered its blood-colored eyes with awesome paws to shield it from the light.

"How dare you attack innocent people trying to enjoy a beautiful spring day in the market. Markets are for shopping, and meeting people and friends. They are not for the likes of you, and on behalf of the Sailor Scout of Protection, and the Planet of Jupiter, I, Sailor Jupiter shall punish you! " 

"Quite poetic, Sailor Jupiter." The Yoma said, rather sarcastically.

"Sparkling wide... PRESSURE!" Yelled the vigilant sailor scout. The attack landed with great force, slamming the Yoma into a nearby building, causing a bit of property damage.

"Arraaaaaaaaaaggaaaauaaa!!" shrieked the Yoma, until it was no more.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"What was that?!" Yelled Sailor Jupiter. After the battle, the scouts had gathered in an abandoned stock-house.

"I don't know..." Replied Sailor Moon. She sat upon a crate with an expression of wonder.

"What was it after?" Sailor Saturn asked, carefully holding her scythe in her right hand.

Sailor Moon looked over at Sailor Jupiter. "'Pure Energy', wasn't that it?"

"Mmm." Jupiter nodded her head. "It had an incredible amount of endurance. It was amazing."

"Pure Energy, ne?" Mercury looked at the ceiling, in deep thought.  "Did it say what it wanted if for, by any chance?"

Uranus shook her head no. "Unless it said something before we got there." she shrugged. "I agree with Sailor Jupiter. That was a strong Yoma. It acted as if my World Shaking didn't even damage it. And it has one hell of a tackle." She commented, as she rubbed her arm, which was now back in place and healing, thanks to Sailor Saturn.

Tuxedo Mask frowned, and folded his arms. "What does Sailor Pluto have to say about this? Does it have anything to do with that problem with the future, ah, not being there?"

"I think so." Started Sailor Mercury The expression upon her face was that of want; want of answers.

"But we don't know that," interjected Sailor Neptune, "And what we don't know, _can_ hurt us."

"I think Sailor Pluto is the only one who knows or can find the answers." Sailor Venus crossed her left leg as she spoke.

"But we don't know where she is." Sailor Moon spoke again.

"Then it's settled. We find Sailor Pluto. Any way we can." Sailor Mars said firmly.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Shiunto, Kali-oshi, reveal to me the location of Sailor Pluto." Prayed Rei as she shook the toki-unoi. The fire blazed for hours as the priestess waited for the answer.

Finally, the flame burned out.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Setsuna! Setsuna!" cried Mamoru relentlessly. "Setsuna, where are you?!" Mamoru walked aimlessly through Tokyo searching for Sailor Pluto.

"SHE'S NOT COMING BACK TO YOU!" cried a Hell-like voice.

"NO!" screamed Mamoru, as he woke, naked, in the bed.

"What?" asked Bunny, also naked, from the other side of the bed.

"Pluto's gone." he said.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

_'Setsuna Meioh'_ Ami typed. She looked over at the clock. '3:00 A.M.' it flashed.

"Where are you?" asked Ami, into the silence.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Michiru, I can't find her." started Haruka, from inside her helicopter.

"If anyone can find her, it's us. We must keep trying." Replied Michiru.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Have you seen this woman?" questioned Makoto, as she grabbed a passing man by his lapels, and raised him off the ground.

"No, no miss. I've never seen her in my life!" squawked the man.

Makoto gently put the man down. "Thanks anyway." she said, and walked off.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Mirror, show me Sailor Pluto." Michiru gently commanded her talisman. The mirror's surface swam with colours, and briefly started to clear, showing what looked like a flicker of Pluto's deep, brown eyes, before the entire surface turned a deep black, and faded away to the silvery reflective surface that was normally present.

Michiru frowned, and tried again, using her human name. "Mirror, show me Setsuna Meioh." This time, the mirror stayed blank.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

_"Where is she?"_ thought Hotaru as she lifted her head from her book. _"Why would she do this? What does she have to cover?"_

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"But why, Artemis?" pondered Minako. "She doesn't have a reason for leaving."

"Obviously, she does." replied the cat.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

_"We need you back Setsuna._ I_ need you back."_ thought Bunny as she and Mamoru returned to sleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Daughter of Chronos, the Great God of the Heavens. Sailor Pluto, to you is the weight of history, today and that yet to come. Look to the past to find your answer." Stated the voice.

Sailor Pluto unlocked her gaze from the stars. "How can I find an answer without a question?" she said to her father's realm.

"Your true friend is the unknown, Goddess."

"Don't call me 'Goddess'. I hate it." unemotionally pleaded the soldier, her head throbbing.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Michiru tossed her hair as she set her chin on the flat of her violin. Picking up her bow, she said, "Haruka, still we find no evidence of Setsuna's whereabouts. We have only few options left."

Haruka sat up from the kotasu table, stretching her legs. "Just take your mind off of the matter." she informed. "We'll find a way to get Setsuna back."

"What if she doesn't want to come back?" Michiru said, as she began to play.

Haruka shook her head. "Of course she wants to come back. She has her reason of her solitariness."

Just then, their phone started ringing. Not feeling up to facing their public, both women let it ring, until the answering machine picked it up. ~CLICK~_"Hi, this is the Tenoh-Kaioh residence. Leave a message after the beep"_~BEEP~_ "Haruka, Michiru. It's Setsuna. I know it's against the outer senshi's decreed to fight along side with the inner, but a battle is about to begin. Gather everyone. I have important news."_~CLICK~

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Pure Energy." spoke a deep and velvet rich voice. "The only way to control everything is with the Pure Energy." A glimmer sparkled off the broad, bare, and male shoulders. "We, as Shadow Plain Legends, are destined to rule the universe. All is intended for our will." Preached the melting voice.

An uproar started in the 'audience' as the speech paused.

"But," interrupted the voice, "The Sailor Scouts are all still and well. Millions of them exist, even on our own planet. We must infiltrate the Sailor Scouts, just as we did in the Silver Millennium, when we had the Negaverse to do our bidding." The man paused, inhaling through his rather pointed nose. "Fools. Queen Beryl and her stolen generals were fools. We knew how to overthrow. Secret, silent infiltration." the crowed roared again. The man held up his hand. "We had already possessed one of the most powerful scouts of the time. She fed us her Pure Energy, and we replaced it with tainted energy. It was because of her we survived that awful Silver Imperium Crystal spell that was intended to lock us away. It was because of her that the fools of the Negaverse ever got as far as they did in their loud, boastful attacks.

"Our attack starts now. We shall draw their attention away, with such decoy attacks, while searching for our tainted senshi. Once we find her, our master plan will commence!"

The crowed howled and shrieked in anticipation.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Mamoru looked up at the tall apartment building in which Haruka and Michiru shared the top floor suite of. He had hardly believed his ears when Michiru had called him, telling him that Setsuna was back, and calling a meeting. Had they all been merely over hasty in their thoughts that she had been stolen from them? If so, then what had his dream meant? His dreams were hardly ever wrong.

His thoughts were interrupted as Bunny tugged on his arm, urgently. "Mamo-Chan? Are you just going to stand there all day? We have to go up!"

Mamoru smiled, and allowed Bunny to pull him to the elevator, the other scouts following close behind.

When the elevator stopped on the top floor, they all silently filed out into the small lobby area, and removed their shoes, each lost in his or her own thoughts. Then they entered the living room, Michiru having already opened the door for them.

To everyone's surprise, it was not Setsuna waiting for them, but Sailor Pluto. Haruka looked slightly nervous about her staff, which was coming rather close to scratching the mirrored ceiling panels.

There was an uneasy silence, as the outer senshi stared at Sailor Pluto. Finally, Haruka broke it. "Well? Are you going to talk to us now that they're here?"

Pluto sighed and nodded. "Yes. I've been taking the time to put my thoughts in order. We should all sit down. This might take a while to explain."     

The inner senshi shot uneasy glances at each other, and found themselves seated in the living room of Haruka and Michiru again, for the second time in one month. At this point, Hotaru came in, carrying a tray of tea. She smiled a rare smile, and set the tea down on the coffee table. "Pluto told me this might take a while, so I thought we should have some calming tea."

"Thank you, Hotaru." Rei graciously accepted the tea, as did Ami, Makoto, Mamoru and Michiru. Bunny, Minako, and Haruka left theirs for later. Luna curled up in Bunny's lap, and Artemis in Minako's.

Pluto nodded, but also left her tea, keeping a firm grip on her staff. "I want all of you to think back to the memories granted to you by the guardian cats. Of the Silver Millennium. Of your last moments before Queen Serenity used the magnificent power of the Silver Imperium Crystal to save our lives. Do you remember?"

Slowly, and somewhat soberly, all around nodded.

"But there are gaps. Things that are fuzzy, or things that you can't seam to remember, no matter how hard you try, correct?" Again the nods. "Good. I'm about to fill in some of those gaps. Some, mind you, not all." Pluto stood, and held her staff out at arms length, horizontally. "Close your eyes, and think back to the time of peace, the Silver Millennium. Now." As she said these words, and those about her obeyed, the orb at the end of her rod began to glow and heavy smoke poured around it, filling the room. Then, the memories came.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Space.... Sword....BLASTER!" Sailor Uranus attacked at her foe, on the alien planet Saturn. Her own planet, Uranus, had already been taken, so she was here, defending the planet who's own scout was far, far away.

A dark laugh sprung from her opponent, who she couldn't see, due to the fact that she- and it was a she, judging by the voice- was buried somewhere within a dark, spreading area, into which her attacks, and everything else it touched, disappeared, harmlessly.

Uranus gritted her teeth, and tried again. "Space... Sword... BLASTER!" Again, no damage. Again, her opponent laughed. Uranus spat. "Why don't you show yourself, coward!" She screamed into the darkness.

"Hmm... Is a 'fair fight' what you want...?" A form suddenly appeared in the darkness, but Uranus could hardly see it, due to the fact that she was dressed in an all-light-absorbing black. "Well... I'm sorry, but I don't do 'fair'. But if it's hand to hand you fancy, it's hand to hand you shall receive!" 

The fight started before Uranus knew it. She was hit in the face and stomach, and her legs were kicked out from underneath her. Uranus looked up in pain, blood running freely from her nose. These punches were not regular punches. There had been an incredible power behind them.

"Shadows! Come to my aid! Razor... Darkness... ATTACK!" Uranus rolled out of the way just in time to avoid being hit by her opponents attack, which ripped up the ground, and disintegrated it.

"World.... Shaking!" Now that she could almost see her attacker, Uranus decided to try and knock her off her feet with her attack. But in the light of the attack, she saw her opponent's face, and a little bell went off in her head.

The female fatal easily avoided Uranus's attack. "Is that the best you can do?" she laughed. 

Suddenly, it hit her. She knew this girl. "It's you!"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Oh, Artemis," gasped Princess Minako, laughing, "don't be silly."

"No, Minako- I really do feel like a danger is coming tonight." pleaded the cat.

Love sat at an Indian-style table, speaking with her most loved friend.  The two were in a building that, while part of the palace, was not actually touching the main hall, where the ball was being held. "Artemis, you worry too much." She said. "Where's Princess Serenity?"

A flash of something hit Artemis's eye. He turned his head to look, but it wasn't there.

"I love you Artemis." Minako said, out of nowhere.

"And I love you too, Minako." Easily replied the cat.

Suddenly, the ground shook, and many voices raised in shouts and screams. It was coming from the ballroom in the palace. Minako jumped to her feet in alarm.

Artemis!" She shouted, whirling around to look for danger.

Suddenly, a scream rang out as a Sailor Scout in a red and white fuku with very long,

bight red hair went flying across the corridor. She was rendered unconscious, and she didn't look like she was in very good shape. In fact, she looked close to death. A large crimson and ocher dragon stepped out behind the wall. It carried a woman upon it's back.

The woman was of average height, but her hair and flowing dress made her look taller. The mentioned hair, which was a deep blue gray, was done up in two smooth cones on ether side of her head, adding to the triangular look of her head, as her face was very pointed. Her eyes were yellow, and had pupils like a cat's. They shone with evil.

"Ahh, Sailor Venus," Spoke the nurturing voice of the woman, "how nice of you to come to die." her voice was low, and slightly gravely.

"Leave this place!" yelled Minako. "I give you to the count of three. One... Two... Three!

"Dragon Tide!" Yelled the dragon woman. Her attacked missed Minako by quite a distance, thanks to some fancy footwork by the princess

"Venus Star Power, Make UP!" Minako cried. "With the blessings of Venus, the planet of Romance, the Sailor Scout of Love, Sailor Venus is here!"

"Lovely words..." said the woman, thoughtfully. "But that's all they are. Words." lashing her voice.

"Minako.... Mi…na...ko" cried the weak voice of Artemis. Sailor Venus, whirled around, realizing the Artemis had been hit by the woman's attack, ran to Artemis. 

"Artemis! Oh Artemis, please... Don't leave me! I love you Artemis! Don't leave me!" Sailor Venus spoke through her tears. Suddenly, faintly at first, then brighter, her tiara shone with an ocher light. "Artemis," She said, "go to the Queen." 

Artemis knew what she was doing. She was transferring her life energy to Artemis, so that he would live. "Don't do it, Minako!" he pleaded.

Sailor Venus fell to the floor, dying. "I love you..." she whispered.

"I love you too." Artemis said, as he ran off to the Queen.

"Pity," The dragon woman spoke to her serpent.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Sailor Mercury. Scout of Wisdom. Princess, of the Planet of Mercury." A tall, beautiful, aquamarine skinned woman grinned evilly at her target. "All these fancy titles won't do you much good now, will they?" She laughed.

Mercury, who had been at a celebration ball on the Moon when the Negaverse had attacked, was now lying fatally wounded, and separated from her friends, and all those who could help her.

Mercury felt tears come to her eyes, but she quickly blinked them away. Struggling to her feet, her beautiful, formally white fuku dripped red. "Sh-shine....Aqua...Illusion..." she cried out weakly, trying to hold in her lives' blood, and failing at her attack. She crumpled back to the floor.

The woman laughed. "Poor, poor Mercury. We're so alike, you know? It's a shame I had to kill you. We're both controllers of the element of water. We're both used by our 'superiors' for our brains. It really is a shame."

Mercury looked up at the horrible woman, who's deep, blue hair was shimmering in the light of the Moon's Royal Library, which was now in shambles from her fight. "Who are you? Why are you doing this?"

The woman raised an eyebrow. "My name's Tsunami." she smirked. "I'm supposedly doing this for Queen Beryl, and the Negaverse, but I'll let you in on a little secret, seeing as how you're about to die." Tsunami leaned over, and crouched over Mercury's prone form, which was quickly fading. "I'm not doing this for the Negaverse. They're all fools. I'm doing this for my real Master, and our world, The Shadow Plain." Tsunami smiled, cocky. "I'm number ten, out of twenty of the_ true_ Shadow Plain Legends. Once Queen Beryl, and her Negaverse army have completed their usefulness, my Master shall rid this world of them, just as we're doing to yuh-" Tsunami stopped short, eyes wide. Her hands went to her chest, where she found a shard of thick glass sticking out of her breast. Mercury scowled, vile and loathing at Tsunami.

"Love and Good will triumph. That's a promise... I make to you..." she said softly, but with force, her own hand now bleeding from where she had picked up the glass, and clutched it, as she stabbed Tsunami.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

_"Hmm, they're so beautiful,"_ Makoto thought to herself, as she gazed upon a large garden which belonged in the decanted entrance to the place of the Moon Kingdom. A fragrant air hung with humidity as she perched herself onto a low staircase. She smiled to herself. She would rather deal with flowers than royalty any day.

The air shifted. Suddenly, a large pain was felt in Makoto's back as she was slammed into a crystal wall of the place.

Placing her left foot out before she hit, Makoto sprung into a spinning flip, landing facing the stairs. Where she been before, stood a man she hadn't seen before.

The man was**_ BIG_**. _Very_ big. Makoto, who was the princess of Jupiter, which was known for having rather tall inhabitants, only came up to the man's elbow. _Maybe_. And if he hadn't have just attacked her, she would have liked what she saw. He had spiky brown hair, and thick eyebrows. His skin was darker than her own, as if he had lain in the sun for a very long time, and he had a very young looking face, if not slightly blank.

"I'm Bruno." called the man, bowing. He was wearing a gi, but his body was so huge, and busting with muscles, that the sleeves had been ripped off, and the pants were shredded, ending around his knees. "Now, you die." He leaped from the stairs, directly in front of Makoto, shaking the ground, yet landing lightly.

"Sorry, I don't do things that way." She replied. "Yah!" She cried, delivering a series of dragon kicks to the man's upper torso. The attack took them back to the stairs, the Princess of Jupiter attacking, Bruno dodging.

Releasing her attack, Makoto back flipped up the stairs. "Jupiter Star Power, Make UP! With the blessings of Jupiter, the planet of power, the Sailor Scout of Protection, Sailor Jupiter will punish you!"

Bruno quickly ran up the stairs, in full charge at Jupiter. "Ha!" he lifted his shoulders slightly as he rammed into her torso.

Sailor Jupiter returned with a flying kick to Bruno. She grabbed his huge right arm, and threw him over her back. Next, she raised her leg over her head, and dropped it onto his sternum. Bruno roared with pain.

"Leave this place, and don't come back!" Sailor Jupiter commanded.

"This is my duty, and I must!" He said from the ground. He grabbed Sailor Jupiter's standing leg and pulled her to the floor. Cross-chopping her sternum and paralyzing her body.

It was then that Sailor Jupiter realized how horribly she had misjudged her opponent.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The Princess of Neptune looked curiously into her mirror. "Show me this evil that plagues the Silver Millennium." She commanded it.

Her talisman swam with colours, light pastel at first, next deepening into their zero forms, then back into pastel. "Hurry, time's running out." Michiru commanded yet again.

"Time has already run out." Said a young girls voice. Michiru set her talisman down, knowing this girl was part of that evil.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" asked the Princess. She turned around to see a young girl clad in ivory and iron.

Michiru first laid eyes on the large scythe the girl carried. A long, undecorated iron pole held a curved scythe. The scythe itself was decorated as the yin-yang symbol she had seen somewhere before. The scythe was carried by the right arm, which boasted iron gloves and bracelets. The left arm was of the same, except the placement of the jewelry. The breastplate was a curved piece of iron. A point of it touched the girls navel, but revealed a bare midriff. The girls skirt was made of fabricated ivory, which was covered by fierce strips of metal that pointed at the end. They hung at her hips. Beginning at the mid shin, the girl's boots of iron were decorated with a simple line of ivory which circled the top.

Michiru looked up to the girls face, and was startled. A mask covered her face; it was the mask that scared her. It was a curved metal piece just like the breastplate. It was cold, lifeless and even unhuman. Michiru hated that mask.

"Who am I?" Oozed the speech from behind the awful mask. "I am your killer."

"You will not kill me." Reassured Michiru.

"Shut up!" Screamed the girl as she swung her scythe so it landed on Michiru's shoulders, but did not cut her. "I will, I will I _will_!"

"You will do nothing." blankly stated Michiru, brushing the scythe away as if it were a small insect.

"I'll prove that I can!" now Michiru could see tears drip from under the mask. "We'll battle."

"Only love and truth will win," said Michiru, "but I will accept you silly little challenge."

Michiru quickly transformed and turned right into the girl's face, but still shot a glance at her talisman, which remained swimming with colours.

"Go." said Sailor Neptune, in a kind of 'I'm waiting' tone.

"Fine." The girl said as if she were the younger sister whose brother had just apologized. She had now calmed down and quit crying. She took a great leap, ending with a flip about six feet away. "Grim Reaper's Surprise Scythe!" She screamed. The attack was a straight forward leap into the air with extended scythe, which Sailor Neptune knew was intended to hit her neck.

Sailor Neptune ducked, grabbed her talisman and screamed, "Aqua Marine Reflection!" A shadow figure, in the silhouette of the girl jumped out of the mirror, and copied the girls attack, only this one hit.

The girl shook of the attack, and, in a rage, commanded "Iron Armor Incasing!"

"Mirror, what's this girls name?" asked Sailor Neptune.

'Etuki' it flashed.

"Etuki," sweetly called Sailor Neptune, "you're failing."

"I... am..._not_!" screamed Etuki. She stood straight up, with poise. "Piercing Blades!" she called.

Many sharp iron objects flew at Sailor Neptune, each one ripping her fuku. 

"Is that all you've got, little girl, little brat, little failure?" Sailor Neptune harshly said to Etuki. Oh, that mask, she hated that mask.

"Reaper's Choice of Death!"

Sailor Neptune knew this was the girls ultimate attack. Quickly responding, she dropped her talisman. "Deep Submerge!"

Sailor Neptune's attack flew at Etuki, lessening her accuracy. As a result, Etuki's attack hit Sailor Neptune's mirror, shattering the glass.

"Ahh!" cried Sailor Neptune, as the power drained with her talisman.

"I win!" Etuki cried.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Mars Snake Fire!" Sailor Mars screamed, throwing the flaming creature at her rival. It spun itself in a large spiral, opened its mouth and.... disappeared harmlessly.

You are in MY spiritual world now, Sailor Mars. Only what I want happens. Spoke the voice in Sailor Mars's head, which she knew came from a spiritual woman who called herself Elisha. And in my world, you die!

Sailor Mars felt a pulling sensation as her soul separated, and her body died.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"We're forbidden to be together. Beryl is tormenting my universe." Princess Serenity said through large, teary eyes. "And some believe that you and your planet are to blame..."

"But you know that I'm not." There was a long pause. "Don't you?" Asked Prince Endimion.

"Of course I do!" She said forcibly. "It's just that we have duties to perform." The Princess looked at her hands which were cupped by Endimion's. "We'll fight, together." She said, firming her position.

They both knew they were to attend a ball; a ball celebrating the Princess's first transformation into the senshi, Sailor Moon, but they knew the evil, which_ wasn't_ Beryl, was coming, and fast. Serenity had decided to force the others around her to see things in the true light, by not attending her own ball, but so far, it would appear as if they had not been missed. That in itself, was troublesome to the Princess.

"We most go to my mother." The Princess said.

"Senshi lovers!" Called a man's voice. "Step down, and give us your universe."

Endimion grabbed his lover and pulled her behind him. "Show yourself!" He commanded.

"That's not important now." replied the voice." The only thing you need know is that you will surrender your kingdom, or die."

"That won't happen, I won't let it!" said the Princess, stepping out from behind her partner. "Only truth and love will prevail."

At that moment, a golden beam of light flew into Endimion's back, causing him to fall face forward to the ground.

"Endimion!" Serenity cried, coming to her knees. The Princess checked for a pulse, but with out answer.

Now knowing her lover was dead, Serenity ran to her mother, hastily.

"Mother! Mother!" She screamed, as she ran into her mother's chambers. Along the way, she passed many- too many to count- small battles between horrible creatures, and members of the Silver Mellennium. "Mother, En-"

She stopped short when she saw what her mother was doing. "Mother, no, you'll kill yourse-"

The Queen turned to face her daughter, interrupting her. "My dear Serenity, I already know. It will be alright. Now go, go to the future and defeat the evil that plagues the Silver Millennium. My dear Serenity, I love you."

"Mama, please, no! You'll kill your-"

It was too late. The Queen had saved the Silver Millennium, but.... Such a cost.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Saturn." Sailor Saturn, who was sitting on a rock, on a deserted planet in the out most regions of the Universe looked up in surprise. She had thought she was alone, but she most obviously was not.

Spinning around, Scythe in hand, she found herself facing a Sailor Scout she had never seen before in her short life. The woman was tall, and had deep, distant brown eyes. Her skin was dark. Not as dark as some that she had seen, but definitely dark. From her ears dangled two, reddish brown earrings, that were shaped a bit like arrow points. Her hair, which reached past her waist, was a shade of such dark green it was almost black, and some of it was pulled up in a bun in the back of her head. Her Fuku was Black. There was a little bit of the same reddish brown colour of her earrings here and there, but for the most part, black was the dominate colour. Around her waist, there was a chain, which held many small keys.

Saturn took in all this in a second. But the thing that drew her attention was what was in the mystery Sailor's hands. It was a long staff. Almost like her own, the way it was fashioned, only, whereas hers was a giant Scythe, used for the harvesting of life, the mystery sailor's staff reminded her of a key... a giant key, just like the ones on her belt. Saturn blinked. She had only known a few Scouts that carried a staff to rival her own, and this was not one that she remembered.

"Saturn... We need to talk. About many things. And I'm afraid we don't have much...." the scout smiled "...time..."

Saturn raised her scythe into the ready position. "I'm sorry for being rude, but who exactly are you. I've never before seen a scout quite like you."

The tall woman nodded. "Understandable. My name is Sailor Pluto, and I am the Sailor Scout of Time."

Saturn sucked in a sudden breath, her lungs suddenly emptying them selves. "Did you say... Sailor... Pluto?" she asked shakily

The woman- Sailor Pluto- nodded.

"But it's forbidden to even know you exist! How can you be here if you have to-" Pluto held up a hand to halt Saturn's sudden rush of questions.

"I'm here because this world had taken a turn for the worse that I cannot fix. That is the job of another. It surprised me, because I do not divulge in what lies ahead, even though I could know, if I wanted. All of the future is subject to change, anyway. Besides that, it isn't my job to plan the events, just to make sure that time passes correctly." she sighed. "I should have had this conversation with you long, long ago, Saturn. But I was waiting until you would be old enough to understand. Now it seams that I have, ironically, run out of time.

"Saturn, the Silver Millennium is doomed. The Negaverse has attacked, under the rule of the formal noble of Earth, Beryl. She has gained the power of the Negaverse, and the support of the Shadow Plain."

"Shadow Plain?" Saturn interrupted.

"No time. Just listen. As we speak, Scouts, Knights, and persons all over the galaxy are dying, because of this attack. Soon, they will all be dead." 

"Akana...?" Saturn asked weakly about her brother, the one person who still loved her, despite her position of the Scout of Death. Akana, who was the first royal Saturn Knight. Pluto nodded slowly.

Saturn sat back down, very suddenly, and very hard. It was her job to protect the universe if something like this ever happened. Now she was being told that due to the way the universe had alienated her from them, she was going to fail her only purpose for being. A tear rolled down her cheek.

"Saturn, listen to me. It's important. I know you are shocked, but you must listen. This world is lost. It shall be a very, very long time until we meet again, and I need to tell you _now_. Are you listening?" Saturn took a shaky breath, and nodded. Pluto continued. "I am the Sailor Scout of Time. You are the Sailor Scout of Death-"

"_And_ healing. Healing is always first." She interjected forcibly.

"and healing." Pluto finished. "I'm sorry to inform you that Death will always come before healing, no mater how hard you try to change it. It is simply the way of life. Now. There are several other Scouts that are like us. They represent the Scouts of Fate, Destiny, and Nature, and War. You and I represent Death and Time. All together, we are the Immortality Senshi."

Saturn blinked "But I thought I was a member of the Outer Senshi. And you, too, have always been categorized under my section!" 

Pluto shook her head slowly. "Yes, it's true. We are both parts of the Outer Senshi. But, had you been aloud to live longer, you would have learned that a few Scouts belong to more than one Senshi. We are simply two of the few."

As Pluto's words sunk in, Saturn clenched her eyes shut, trying to absorb it all. "Immortality?" she questioned, picking up on that word, finally.

Pluto closed her eyes, and slowly nodded. "Yes. Listen closely Saturn. You and I are immortals. Not in the sense of true gods and goddess, because we have human weaknesses, and we can be killed quite easily, but, as the true gods, from where we derive our immortality from, have all long since died, we are all that remains. Nine Immortals. I have the blood of Chronos in my veins. He was my father, and I was the last of his children, but he told me that I was always his favorite. He was the last of the gods to die." Pluto's eyes looked pleadingly into Saturn's. "Please, don't tell me your family hasn't told you that you carry the blood of Thanatos?"

Saturn looked up at the tall woman. "I knew that. But it's always been kept a secret. People don't want to hear that you are related to Death." she said, bitterly.

"I'm sorry for the hardships your ancestry has cause you. But as soon as you awoken as your Planet's Scout, then that small bit of blood in your veins also awoken, and granted you... Immortality."

Saturn sniffed. "What about Akana? He's the Saturn Knight. Will he be immortal?"

Pluto shook her head, but not 'no'. "I'm sorry, Saturn, but I don't know the answer to that question."

Suddenly, a bright, white-silvery light filled the dark sky, illuminating everything, and causing the two scouts to cover their eyes from the light.

Pluto smiled, sadly. "Queen Serenity has used the Imperium Silver Crystal to save her people's lives. Please Saturn. Remember what I've told you!"

Saturn's eyes closed, as a large, silvery bubble incased her. She curled up into a fetal position, and felt herself drifting off; both into sleep, but also into the oblivion of the future. She heard a voice calling desperately to her...

"Remember, Saturn! Remember!"

_"Hmmm.....Remember?...."_ Saturn yawned. _"What's there to remember....? Nothing... Nothing that concerns me, certainly.... Hmmm.... Who's that voice belong to...." _ She rolled over in her bubble. _"Sleep... that sounds good....Hmmm... Yes.... Sleep...."_

"Remember!"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Slowly, everyone opened their eyes. Everyone looked somber, confused, and a bit shocked.

"Woah..." Makoto gasped, breaking the silence.

"So..." Rei breathed, "So... That's how I died..."

Pluto nodded grimly. "Yes. I am truly sorry I had to show you that. I know they are... Unpleasant memories."

Hotaru sat silent, amazed by what she had just learned. _"I... I'm... immortal?"_

"Um, perhaps this a silly question, but did anyone else have dealings with an, er, agent of the Shadow Plain?" Ami asked, silently.

"I heard of it in my last moments." Hotaru volunteered. Pluto shot her a glance, but when she didn't say anything else, she returned her attention to the others in the room.

"Yes. You see, I believe that the Shadow Plain has returned." Pluto explained.

"But... How does that change the future so you can't get to it?" Mamoru questioned, as he held Bunny close.

Pluto frowned. "I think.... And this is only a hypotheses, mind you, but I think that they are trying to find the greatest evil, and wake it up again. If this evil awakens, I'm not sure we will be able to defeat it. It is incredibly powerful."

"What is this evil? A daemon, perhaps?" Michiru volunteered, trying to get over the shudders her memories have given her. She could still see that horrible mask.

Pluto shook her head 'no', slowly. "I'm afraid... I'm afraid it's a Sailor Scout." Their was a collective gasp from everyone else in the room, except Haruka, who simply raised an eyebrow. 

"Care to explain on that further?" She asked, edgy.

"Of course. You see, the Shadow Plain is... was... a parallel universe to our own. Unfortunately, the core of their universe reversed it's polaric force, causing the stability of the positive...." She noted the confused looks she was getting, except from Ami, who seemed to be quite interested. "Er, well, to put it in understandable terms, first, all positive energy was turned negative, which turned their ruler, and their warriors, and all other inhabitants quite evil. Then, after the evil was quite irreversible, their world started to collapse upon itself. Implode, if you will. So, they did the most prudent thing they could, which was to transfer as many of their numbers as possible to the next universe over. That universe was ours. Do you understand so far?" Everyone nodded. "Right. They ended up on a planet towards the edge of the solar system. A Scout did draw manna from this planet, but she never actually lived on it."

"Is that the Evil Sailor Scout?" Rei questioned

Pluto waved her hand 'no'. "It would seem quite possible, but let me finish my explanation first. The ruler of the Shadow Plain was to his- or perhaps her, I don't really know."

"Master." Ami whispered, while staring at her hands. "The... Woman.... Tsunami.... She said 'Master'."  She could still see the blood.

Pluto looked sympathetically at Ami, but continued. "Thank you, Ami. The Ruler of the Shadow plain was to his universe what Queen Serenity was to ours, and what the Neo Queen Serenity will be. He was all powerful, and this was fine, during the time when their universe was good. But once it turned evil, everything went wrong. And when he transferred into our universe, he became insanely jealous of the Queen. So, after a bit of hunting by his top warriors, he found the Nobel from Earth, Beryl. By manipulating her feelings and her actions, he was able to put her in contact with the Negaforce. After that, he controlled her from behind, sending his warriors to work for her. He planned on taking over her empire, once Beryl had taken over the Silver Millennium. And as you all know, his plan almost worked. Thankfully, the Queen used the Imperium Silver Crystal, but at such a coast..." Pluto paused, remembering. After a moment, she continued. "Now. In the entire universe, there are several extremely powerful scouts. As you all know, Sailor Saturn is the most powerful." Hotaru blushed. "But. There are others who have power to rival, or even equal hers. It was one of these who became possessed by the evil energy. Her name was Sailor Sygnus."

"I knew it!" Haruka stood up and began pacing. "I knew it was her! But... Why...?" She looked angrily out the window. Michiru knew that Haruka was only angry at herself for not understanding something, so she let her lover to continue to pace.

Pluto sighed. "Yes. The Sailor Sygnus was a very important person to the well-being to the universe. She was the Sailor Scout of Black Holes. She is the only one in the universe who can control their power. She was the one who would close up a black hole if one opened to close to an inhabited planet. There were checks for her power, but they aren't important now. The thing is, the Shadow Plain _knew_ that Sailor Saturn was too far away to be of any use to anyone-" a tear slid down Hotaru's cheek, "-so they went after the next best thing. She was perfect for their plan, too. They possessed her with evil energy, turning her into a puppet for their usage. Where ever she went... Whatever she touched.... disappeared. She was like a walking black hole herself. Very dangerous, especially because almost all the energy she was absorbing went straight to the Shadow Plain Master, for his usage."

"Let me guess." Ami said, clenched hands in her lap, staring at the floor. "The Shadow Plain master used that energy to shield himself from the power of the Imperium Silver Crystal, Enabling him to resurface now."

"Exactly. And I'm not sure, but I am guessing that their plan of action is going to be to find Sailor Sygnus, and awaken her. I don't know weather she will re-awaken as Sailor Sygnus, or as her counter part, the Anti-Sailor Nothingness."

"The Anti-Sailor Nothingness?" Mamoru questioned, still holding Bunny close.

"That's what she called herself after she was possessed by the dark energy." Haruka answered, before Pluto had a chance to.

Almost everyone looked, surprised, at Haruka. "How did you know that?" Minako asked.

Haruka clenched her fists, as she looked out a large, bay window at the sky, which was showing signs of a spring thunderstorm. "She... The Anti-Sailor.... She's the one who... Killed me, in the Silver Millennium." Michiru gasped. "I think that this Shadow Plain wanted to make sure that Sailor Saturn didn't suddenly ruin their plans, so they sent her to Saturn, to make sure that she wasn't there, and that... Everyone there was dead." 

Hotaru gasped, and buried her face in her hands. Her family had almost all rejected her, like everyone else, after she became the Bringer of Silence, but, it was, after all, her family. Rei, who was sitting closest to her, put her arm around her shoulders, and comforted her.

"I... Uranus was already taken, so I was trying to help out on Saturn, but when _she_ came.... I was completely useless. I failed the people of Saturn, the Queen, and the Silver Millennium." Haruka continued. Michiru stood, and attempted to comfort her.

Pluto sighed. "I truly am sorry I had to bring all these depressing memories into the light. But it couldn't be helped. I think that they are looking for the Anti-Sailor, but if we can find her first, then we can do something."

"What do you mean, 'do something'. If she turns into the Anti-Sailor, then Sailor Moon can just use her Moon Healing Activation, and purify her." Makoto pointed out.

Pluto sighed. "It's not that easy. I'm still researching how exactly they managed to posses her, but I know that a healing attack will not suffice. The Anti-Sailor is extremely dangerous. She absorbs all that is around her, first it's life energy, if it's alive, then its form. She is also unstable, both mentally, and physically. I really couldn't tell you more than that at this time."

A grim silence filled the room, as everyone thought about this new mission.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A tall man strode through a dark hallway, lit by a periodical violet-flaming torch, a scowl on his somewhat handsome face. He was wearing a Ring Master's uniform, complete with knee high black lace up boots, gray knickers, which disappeared into the boots, a long, tailed red jacket with gold buttons, a white dress shirt and a blue-green scarf tucked in at the collar. His hair, which was a deep brown-red colour, was parted cleanly down the middle, and grew in close to his neck, and then suddenly splayed outwards, creating a bit of mane. In his ears, which were pointed, he wore a gold, dangling earring, that matched his buttons. His eyes were a dark green, and were flashing with anger. His bushy eyebrows were creasing his small forehead.

Abruptly, he entered a large chamber room. On the opposite side, sat a man, completely in shadows. Gathered along the sides of the oval chamber were literally hundreds of human-like, and not so-human like figures, all talking, and laughing. When he entered, there was an abrupt silence. He bowed deeply to the man in the shadows.

After what seamed a very long time, the Man sitting in the shadows spoke. 

"Leon." His voice was deep, and rich, and reverberated off the walls of the now deathly silent room. "What have you to report to Me?"

Leon, the man in the Ring Masters uniform, balled his hands into fists. "My kagemusha was destroyed... By _Sailor Scouts_, my Master, my King."

At the mention of the words 'sailor scouts' the crowd began whispering to one another.

"Silence!" Yelled the shadowed man, his command echoing in the dark hall. "The Sailor Scouts have opposed us before," He took a long pause to let the information and mood set in, "We will put an end to that." He laughed. "Leon! Copi!" A seductive looking woman slid from the crowd to stand next to Leon. "You will assume human forms and infiltrate the Sailor Scouts, finding their secret identities. Then we will obliterate the Sailor Scouts!"

A general belief had been reached as all members began to chortle.

"But!" yelled the man, "We cannot do this alone! As we speak, our most fierce warrior, the Anti-Sailor, is being re-awakened to our power. She will destroy all Sailor Scouts so that we can fulfill our destiny.

Lowering his town to a saddened one, "All we want is a universe with out their evil."


	3. Chapter Two

The meeting was over. Everyone was heading home, with grim thoughts. Everyone, that is, except Ami."

"Where are you headed, Ami?" Rei asked, trying her hardest to act cheerful, despite the weight in her mind.

"Oh, I'm starting a computer class, over at Tochita College. They have one of the best computer labs in the world!" Ami gladly explained, trying to act happy, just like Rei. "Tochita is a little bit past your shrine, as you know, so I thought I'd walk with you." She smiled.

Rei sighed, but a happy sigh. "Really, Ami. College courses? Sometimes I think you're too smart for your own good."

The girls continued walking, and talking, each trying to cheer the other up, each succeeding. By the time they reached the Hino's Shrine, both girls were in infinitely better moods.

They said their goodbyes, and Ami continued on to Tochita. Once on the campus, she found herself lost in a sea of students, all of which seamed to be taller than her. She was, after all, short, even by Asian standards.

"Ummph!" As she had turned to try a different direction, she had crashed into someone much taller than herself, and they both fell over.

"Oh! I'm so sorry! Are you alright? Please let me help you!" Ami began to gather both their belongings, piling hers separately than the girls.

The other girl, who's hair was very long and streaked red, blinked a few times, then, slowly, "I'm sorry. I don't quite understand you. Could you say that again, please?"

It was then Ami realized she had crashed in to an exchange student.  That explained the height. "I said I was sorry for crashing into you, and wanted to know weather you were alright." Ami repeated, slowly.

The girl shook her head no, a decidedly foreign movement in this context. "It's alright. You don't have to speak slowly. I just had my marbles knocked loose for a moment their. I speak very good Japanese." She wrinkled her nose. "Mostly." She smiled. "And yes, I'm fine, and I should apologize to you. I wasn't looking where I was going, and I crashed into you. I was looking for my computer class, and..."

"You're in the Computer class, too?" Ami cried out. "So am I!"

The girl smiled. "Wonderful! Now I'll at least have somebody to talk to."

The girls stood. "You don't have any friends?"

The foreign girl turned suddenly shy. "Something.... Something like that." she said softly. Then she brightened again. "But I get the feeling that we'll get along wonderfully, umm...." she faltered suddenly. "I'm sorry, what's your name?"

"Ami."

"I'm Azrielle."

"Ah-su-ree-ell-oo" Ami fitted the foreign name in to a Japanese accent. "That's very pretty."

Azrielle blushed. "Thanks. Most people call me just 'Az'.  I like your name too." By this time, they had found the building the class was being held, and were on their way up the stairs.

"Funny." Ami commented to nobody in particular. "I could have sworn I checked this building." She shrugged, and opened the door for Azrielle. As she did, she looked at the sand stone the door way was made out of, and in the arch above the doors, she thought she saw a question mark. She did a double take when she walked in behind Azrielle, but it was gone.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Lee, dear, would you please fetch the kettle?" Sweetly asked Coco Jinguji. Coco was a woman just under average height, with short, wavy, honey-blond coloured hair, and slate blue eyes. She was wearing a white dress with red spots that went down to her knees, a apron and pearls around her neck.

"Why, yes dear." Stated Lee, as he left his position and went to the kitchen. Lee Jinguji was a tall man, with straight brown hair, parted cleanly down the center. His green-gold eyes caught the light and reflected it. He was wearing a red v-necked vest over a white button down shirt, and gray-black slacks, with the crease still in them.

"Thank you greatly for coming Makoto." Said Mrs. Jinguji, as she sat down in a chair opposite from the tall brunette.

"Oh, well, thank you." Replied Makoto. "I didn't think that this apartment would sell so quickly."

"Tea, anyone?" asked Mr. Jinguji, upon his return from the kitchen. He was holding a tray with three teacups, and the kettle.

"Please." Makoto up righted herself.

"Thank you, dear." Politely accepted Mrs. Jinguji. "About the apartment, though, we saw it on our way into the city, and fell in love. We just had to have it. Isn't that right, dear?"

"Oh, yes." stated Mr. Jinguji. "Now, Makoto, tell us about the Sailor Scouts. We just moved here from Hokkaido, and we know practically nothing about them, but it seams everyone in Tokyo is talking about them."

Makoto's eyes grew to enormous size. "Sah..Sah... Sailor Scouts?" Makoto stuttered. "What's to know?" she asked, downing her tea in one gulp.

"Well, we'd like to know how they always manage to show up to save the day, and how powerful they are.... That sort of thing. We'd especially like to know about the... The... What was it again, dear?" Mrs. Jinguji asked her husband as he sat down next to her on the couch.

"The Anti-Sailor of... Something." He creased his brow, thinking.

"Oh, I remember. The Anti-Sailor of Nothingness." Mrs. Jinguji said with a smile.

"Oh, well, look at the time!" Makoto yelled, looking at her wrist, which had no watch, "Gotta go, thanks ever so much for the tea. Homework, and all that, you know. Bye!" She said as she ran out the door, and across to her apartment. As she darted in to the safety of her home, she thought she saw a question mark in the clouds, but was too frightened to actually take notice.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

As Ami sat through the opening lecture, she took the time to observe Azrielle. She now knew that the girl's last name was Abyss ("Ah-bee-sue" Ami had pronounced it), and that she was currently living with a brother and grandmother, but that was it.

Az's hair was bright blond, as blond as Minako's, actually, but she had dyed red stripes in, giving her a wild look, but her calm, knowing expression countered the hair, for an evenly balanced look. In each ear lobe, she wore small, eight-note earrings, with the tail up, and the note head dangling below. Her eyes sparkled with a green light, as she smiled at Ami, and then returned her attention to the instructor.

Ami sighed, as the lecturer continued to drone on about the basics that she already knew.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Rei was walking through what seamed like an endless tunnel, periodically lit by torches. It was cold, and dry, and.... Evil. She could feel it. As she turned a gentle corner in the tunnel, she came to a large, wooden door. There were words written above it that were in a foreign alphabet but somehow she could read them just the same.

'Hall of Warriors'

She knew that whatever was beyond that door was important. And Dangerous. But she was going to try anyway. She reached out one hand, and grasped the large, golden ring that served as a door knob.

And as the door opened, she suddenly found her self...

... Awake in bed. She sat bolt up, and was surprised to find herself sweating. What could that dream mean? She bundled herself out of bed, and to the fire reading room, to ask the great fire.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"I'm telling you, they know!" Makoto said, throwing her arms in the air. She paced around the over stuffed couches.

Both the inner and outer senshi sat in the outer senshi's apartment once again, the day after Makoto's meeting with the Jinguji's. The mirror on the wall reflected the images of the girls, and one man.

"You're making a big deal out of nothing." Minako responded, sighing.

"But maybe she's not." Typically quiet Hotaru looked up from her hands. She was seated upon Michiru's lap.

"I agree with Hotaru." Michiru said. "Maybe they're ok," She paused, "but what if they're not?"

Minako shook her head.

"Tonight I'll watch them." Haruka volunteered.

"I have a better idea." Ami said. Glancing at Michiru, who grabbed her talisman from the chair side.

"Talisman," she said quietly, "show me the Jinguji's of Tokyo." The mirror flooded with colours.

All the while, Ami had grabbed her computer. 'Jinguji history' she typed in, and aloud the mini computer a moment to run through its huge data stores. "It's all here." she announced, when it was finished. "Places of birth, driving licenses, address," she scrolled down. "No criminal record on ether of them."

Makoto put a frustrated look on her face.

"They're having dinner." Michiru said, looking up from her talisman. "Nothing out of the ordinary."

Bunny hopped up and down, trying to see the mirror. "What are they having?!" she asked over excitedly. Michiru dismissed the question.

"I don't know." Makoto said. "If it had been you there, and you heard them... Well, you'd know what I mean. I still think we should follow them."

"And I'll still do it." Haruka reported.

Ami suddenly slammed her mini computer shut. "On no!" she gasped, as she leapt up. "I'm late for my computer class!"

"Well, don't forget that you said that you'd come to the tea parlor with the rest of us after your class!" Makoto shouted after her, as she dashed to the elevator.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Ami... I don't think this is a very good idea." Azrielle hesitated directly outside the gate of a traditional tea parlor. "I wasn't even invited. And what if they don't like me?" She tugged at the sleeves of her kimono, nervously.

Ami smiled brightly. "You don't have to worry about that. They're all really nice, and I'm sure they'll like you."

She still didn't look convinced. "But I've never been to a tea ceremony before! What if I make some huge mistake, and embarrass you!" She protested again.

Ami laughed. "Don't worry about that. I'm more worried about Bunny making a mistake. She's the biggest klutz, but she has the biggest heart of anyone I know." Ami continued to debate.

"But I can barely walk in this kimono! What if I trip, or something? I don't want to ruin your mom's kimono!"

Ami laughed again. "Don't worry about it, you'll get used to it quickly. Now come on." She finally managed to pull Az through the gate, and into the garden surrounding the tea house. All the other members of the inner and outer senshi were already gathered, minus Hotaru, who was on a sleep over school field trip, and Mamoru, who was working on a research paper. All were wearing kimonos.

"Guys, this is Azrielle." Ami said, walking up to the slightly segregated groups. "She goes to Tochita, and is my computer class. She doesn't know very many people, so I thought I'd bring her along."

"Hi Ami. Hi- um... Ah-oh-eh-la." Bunny attempted a greeting.

"Ah-sue-ree-ell" Az corrected kindly, but shy. She looked at her kimono and pulled the sleeves down.

"Azrielle." Michiru was the first to get it right, although she still did pronounce it with an accent. "That's a pretty name." she commented. Her Kimono was a deep blue with a wave pattern on it, and it was shining in the bright light the late afternoon sun was casting. "My name's Michiru."

"Nice to meet you." Az replied, once again pulling at her sleeves."

"Az just moved here from America." Ami pointed out, trying to break the ice.

"America? Really?" Rei asked, spell bound.

"Yeah." Az once again pulled at her sleeves.

Minako smiled, and said something in English. Azrielle smiled shyly back, and replied in English. They both giggled, as Az tugged at her sleeves.

Haruka cocked an eyebrow and looked at Michiru, who in return looked at Setsuna. They all nodded in unison.

"Az, it was a pleasure to meat you." Michiru bowed. "But I just remembered that both Haruka and I have a sound check for one of my upcoming concerts, and Haruka was supposed to be Setsuna's ride. I'm afraid we're going to have to leave now."

"Oh, are you Michiru Kaioh? I have one of your CDs. I really enjoy your music." Az said, as she pulled at her sleeves.

"Thank you, Az. Hopefully we will see each other again soon." Michiru said, bowing again, and heading towards the gate.

"Bye." Haruka waved.

"Bye," responded everyone.

Az pulled at her sleeve and noticed Michiru pull a mirror from her bag.

Everyone stood still, silent."

"So, Az, what's your major?" Makoto asked.

"Well," she replied, as she pulled at her sleeves, "Music, and technology, like computer networking and the Internet, but I'm also studying British literature, and German, and, of course, I'm taking a Japanese history class. Oh, and...."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            "Hotaru did the same thing." Sailor Uranus said grimly. "Pulling at her sleeves. Hotaru had scars and mechanical body parts to cover up." She rubbed her chin, thoughtfully. "This doesn't bode well for Azrielle."

"I hope she is alright." Sailor Pluto said, worried.

"I don't think so." Sailor Uranus said. "You felt that energy, didn't you?"

Pluto sighed, gazing at the stars. "Of course."

Sailor Uranus, Pluto and Neptune looked into each other's eyes. Each knew what they had felt.

"I don't want to have to kill her." Sailor Pluto implored.

"We might have to. You know that." Sailor Neptune said. "To save-"

Just then, a large group of people came running across the open field in the park, next to which the three scouts were standing. The people were all screaming, and were quite obviously horrified.

Then, a large bear like creature came crashing behind them, it's eyes glowing red and evilly, as it bounded closer and closer to the people.

"Hold it right there!" Sailor Uranus commanded, quickly running out in to the open. "With the blessings of the planet of wind, Uranus, the sailor Scout of the Heavens, Sailor Uranus!"

Neptune ran to join her partner. "With the blessings of the planet of the sea, Neptune, The sailor scout of the depths, Sailor Neptune!"

Pluto appeared on the other side of Uranus. "With the blessings of the planet of the underworld, Pluto, the sailor Scout of Time, Sailor Pluto!"

The creature, which was easily the size of a small car, looked up and smiled, it's sharp teeth glinting in the setting sun. It shifted its weight, and then ran towards a group of ash trees.

"Oh, no you don't!" Sailor Uranus said, smirking, as she dashed after it.

The Scouts ran to the trees, but the creature had disappeared.

"Where'd it go?" Sailor Neptune asked, confused, as she looked about her, and then leaned on a tree.

The tree's branches shot out and wrapped themselves around the scouts before they had time to react. The branches then morphed into something that was like a living rope. It lifted all three high into the air.

"Damn it!" Sailor Uranus yelled, as she tried to free her pinned arms to reach her Sword.

Pluto, however, was luckier, as she had one arm free. She glared at the rope animal that was holding her high. "Dead Scream." She whispered, as she performed the actions of her attack as well as she could. The manna engulfed the creature, and Pluto could feel it dissolving around her.

"Ah!" Sailor Neptune shouted in surprise as the section of rope that held her suddenly disappeared, dropping her to the ground. Then grinned. "Deep Submerge!" she shouted, releasing her attack at point blank against the creature, dissolving it into a pile of purple goo.

"Let's have a talk with Ami." Sailor Neptune said cheerfully, once she and Sailor Pluto had both feet on the ground again.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"It's a carbon-based..." Ami searched for the word. "Er... Goo." she reluctantly said. "It's quite diluted, however. With water. I don't suppose you used your 'Deep Submerge' on it, Neptune?" Ami questioned, as she straightened up from the microscope, to face the three scouts, who were standing in her bedroom. They had entered through her window, and demanded that she analyze the purple substance they had brought. Well. Uranus demanded. Neptune and Pluto requested.

"Actually, yes. And if it helps any, Pluto used 'Dead Scream' also." Neptune replied from Ami's western bed.

"Ah." Ami glanced through the microscope again. "Hmm..."

"'Hmm'? 'Hmm' what?" Uranus asked, anxiously. 

"Well," Ami began, never taking her eyes from the slide, "It appears that its_ cells_ can alter themselves."

"Alter?" Uranus questioned.

"Morph, if you will." The three scouts nodded, as if to say, 'that makes sense'. Ami picked up the light blue phone she had in her room. "Az is also majoring in chemistry." Ami said, blushing slightly, as she pulled Az's phone number up on her mini computer, and punched it in to the phone. The scouts remained silent. It rang five times before someone picked up.

"_'Lo?"_ The voice on the other end was rough, and sounded very masculine. It also sounded like whoever it was had just been woken up.

"Yes, Hi. This is Ami, and I'd like to speak to Az, if she's there." she asked into the telephone.

_"Well, where the hell else would she be. Most _normal_ people are asleep at this hour."_ The voice laughed._ "Not that I'd ever call _that_ freak _normal_."_

Ami paused, not sure how to react to the lack of manners this person had. "Sorry for waking you. But it really is rather important that I talk to Az right now..." She trailed off.

_"Yeh yeh... I'll get her..."_ the phone was put down on a hard surface, so it banged in Ami's ear. There was a pause and then she could here some mumbling in the back ground. 

_"Hello?"_ Az greeted, sounding a bit tired.

"Hi Az, it's Ami."

There was a long pause. _"How did you get my number?"_ She sounded worried.

Ami blanched. She had looked it up on her computer by habit. She had never thought that it might not be listed. "Erm.... It was listed in the Tochita College Directory?" Ami hoped she sounded convincing.

Another long pause. _"Oh. I thought I told them not to list it. I'll have to talk to them about that... Oh! Just a second..."_ the phone was put down again, but not on the hard surface. She could hear the male voice shouting. He sounded angry. Az replied, and she sounded frightened. Then a pause. Then she was back on the phone. _"Sorry..."_

"No... He has every right to be upset... This is a horrible hour to wake someone... Er, is that your brother."

_"Um, yes. But just why exactly are you calling."_ Az quickly changed the subject.

"Oh, yes.  I was wondering if you could come over to my house. I just got my hands on an amazing compound that I know you'd enjoy watching."

_"I'd love to!"_ Az replied.

"Ok then, how about I'll meet you at Sakura Park, and we'll go to my house from there." Ami suggested.

_"Sakura Park? Where's that?"_

"Umm.... Oh, I know! It's across the street from that book store we pass every day on the way to class."

_"Yoshiko's Rare Books?"_

"Yes, That one. Now do you know where I'm talking about?" Ami wanted to make sure.

_"Yes... I'll be there soon."_

"Bye!" Ami said, with as much cheer as she could muster.

"_Bye..."_ Az returned, and hung up the phone. But before she did, she could hear clearly in the background, her brother say _"And where the Hell do you think you're going?"_

Ami sighed deeply. "Az will tell us everything about it." Ami reassured the scouts, whom were returning to their non-scout forms.

"We'll be outside.... watching." Haruka said, as she jumped out the window. Setsuna and Michiru followed.

Ami quickly dressed, grabbed her coat off its hook, and took the more practical way out of a house- the door.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"It's been over an hour, Ami." Setsuna gently spoke from atop the large sakura tree. "You should go home."

"No. I said I would be here." Ami refused. Then she looked up at the three pairs of eyes that glistened from the branches above. "By the way... Why are you watching over me?"

Haruka silently climbed down to a lower branch so Ami could see her. She hesitated, and looked deep into Ami's eyes. "Ami," she finally said, "When we met Az today, we noticed two things about her."

Ami looked back at Haruka, worried. "Her hair and her accent?" she asked, hopefully.

Haruka smiled, and shook her head no. "No... Ami, she continually pulled at her sleeves. That may not seem like much in it self, but... Hotaru did the same thing, before she was reborn for the second time."

Ami paused, to think about this. Then she waved it away. "Well, maybe she has some scars too. I don't see why that means you have to watch over me."

"Also," Michiru chirped in, as she also came to a lower branch, "Her energy."

"Her energy?" Ami questioned, confused. "What about it?"

"It's strong." Setsuna said, not visible from her place in the upper branches. "Like an enemy's, or..."

"Here she comes." Michiru said, as both she and Haruka climbed back up the tree.

"Ami!" Az called. "Sorry I'm late!"

Ami smiled. "That's alright. We didn't after all, agree on a specific time." Ami stopped talking and stared as Az came into view. "Err... Um, Az? Why are you wearing _sunglasses_? It's pitch black out."

"Oh?" Az nonchalantly responded. "I didn't notice."

Ami raised an eyebrow. "How could you not notice?"

Az shrugged. "I went to the eye doctor to day, and I had my eyes dilated. It still hasn't worn off."

"When? You were fine this afternoon for classes, and the tea ceremony lasted until six, and I can't think of any optometrist open that late." Ami pointed out.

Az tugged on the sleeves of her long sleeve jacket, nervously. "I... I had a special appointment."

Ami frowned. _"But you didn't know until that afternoon that you would be busy, and you never mentioned a previous engagement..."_ she thought to herself. _"Maybe they're right to watch over me..."_ Ami reasoned, referring to the three people in the tree above her. _"You are acting mighty suspicious..."_

Out loud, Ami said, "So, shall we go?" And put on a big smile. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ami and Az had reached their destination: Ami's white, two story, very western with purple and green shutter and trim house.

"Wow, Ami!" Az commented, eyebrows raised. "You're house is so beautiful!" She bent down to smell the purple irises that lined the cast iron gate.

"Thanks." Ami politely responded. She slid her right hand under the latch of the gate, and swung it open. The two girls then walked onto the stone path that led to the front door. Az's head turned from side to side, glancing at the assorted planted and potted flowers. 

"C'mon in!" Ami beckoned to Az while opening the front door. Az ran to Ami's side. 

Upon seeing the blue tile entryway, Az snapped her sunglasses off her face. "Ami!" she cried, "Your house is so lovely!"

"It's just my entryway." Ami said with a laugh in her voice. She pushed her shoes off and set them in the corner. She then turned to see her friends expression. "Az! That black eye! Are you ok?" 

Az turned to Ami, who had noticed Azrielle's left eye in great detail. The eye's bruise was an oval corresponding with the eye's natural curvature. Also, the colours of the eye were darkest on Ami's left, and faded as the bruise went out. Putting it all together, Ami cried, "Az, who punched you?!"

Azrielle quickly put her hands to her eye. "I wasn't punched." Az poorly lied. "I ran into some man's elbow while walking home. I... I was reading."

Ami was already in her slippers and getting ice from the kitchen. She walked up to Az, and offered her the ice, wrapped in a thin kitchen towel.

"Thanks." Az said, reaching for the ice.

"Az," Ami paused, "do you want help?" Ami asked quietly.

"Help? For what?" Az questioned back, acting as if she didn't know what Ami was talking about.

_"She's not going to tell me..."_ Ami accepted. She dismissed subject. "Nothing." Ami said lightly. "Well, shall we take the grand tour?" She asked, trying to change the subject.

"I'd love to, Ami." Az responded.

Ami lead Az throughout the large house. In each room, Az, exclaimed how beautiful it was. Finally, they reached Ami's room.

"Well," Ami announced, "here it is." She moved aside so Az could see.

Az's eyes gazed upon Ami's light blue room. Cedar floor to ceiling bookshelves with cast iron guards shaped like waves lined the eastern and western walls (of course all filled with books). A station located on the north wall held a desk with more of the wave pattern iron. The desk seated a computer, TV, microscope, many papers, and pencils. On the opposite wall was a sliding glass door that led to a circular cast iron balcony. Also on that wall, Ami's western bed faced the north. The bedding was bright red with blue bubbles coming from the bottom to top. The backboard was high top with more cast iron.

"Wow!" Az said looking at the room. "Ami, you're so lucky to have a bedroom like this!" She looked towards the desk. "You have a display cable for the microscope too!" she cried with happiness in her eyes.

"Shall we look at the staple?" Ami offered.

"Ok!" Az exclaimed.

"Have a seat." Ami turned her microscope and TV on. "Notice how the cells reconfigure themselves?" Ami reached for the test tube from its stand. "This is a liquid sample of the cells," Ami said referring to the test tube, "but it's made only of carbon."

"But how's that possible?" Az asked in amazement.

"I said it was incredible." Ami explained. "Take a look."

Az got up from the foot of Ami's bed, and sat in the rolling chair. "This is so cool." She mumbled to herself.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"I get to go get new tires tomorrow." Haruka smiled, with stars in her glittering eyes.

The three elder of the outer senshi stood on the cast iron balcony to Ami's bedroom.

"Haruka." Michiru said with the intent of shaking her lover back to the situation on hand: the odd aura of Ami's friend, Azrielle. Setsuna simply shook her head with a sigh.

Almost an hour had passed, and the entire time (much to Haruka's dismay) Ami and Az had contemplated the physical being that the outer senshi destroyed. Sailor Pluto had, on several occasions, knocked Ami's telescope to the floor with her staff. Each time, Az would quickly look out and the outer senshi would hide to the best of their abilities. Pluto's staff became such a hassle, that eventually, all three demorphed, to get rid of their talismans for the time being. Ami was having a hard time in her own right, trying to make the goo seem more like a normal object than a magical creature. 

Ami had noticed the room temperature had dropped greatly since Az's arrival. Finally, she couldn't' stand it anymore. "Az, could you please hand me that blanket?" She asked, pointing to one neatly folded on her bookshelf.

"Sure." Az replied. As she reached for the blanket, she noticed the digital clock also sitting on the shelf. "Oh no!" She leapt up from her chair. "I.... I've got to go home! It's 3:30!"

"What?" Ami asked. "If it's 3:30, why don't you just stay the night?"

"You don't understand, I have to go home!" Az said, pulling on her backpack and sun glasses. "Thank you very much, Ami. Your home is beautiful. Goodnight." Az quickly recited the polite lines and rushed out the door.

Ami sat, not understanding why Az had left in such a hurry.

"Yo, Ami!" Haruka's voice came from the balcony. "Want to let us in?" Ami had locked the glass door to assure Az that they were safe, after Sailor Pluto had knocked over the telescope for the first time. Ami went to the door and unlocked it.  

"So, what did you learn?" Haruka asked, impatient.

Ami sighed. "Quite a bit, actually, but nothing that can help us, at this point."

Haruka scowled. "Figures."

Michiru shivered. "Ami, do you realized that it's colder in here than it is outside right now?"

Ami lifted an eyebrow. "It's summer. The nights are warm. We _do_ have air conditioning, but we don't use it at night, to preserve energy."

Haruka shook her head. "No, it's not like that. It's... Different. I could feel the cold air seeping out around your door." Ami still looked skeptical. "If you don't believe me, go stand outside." Haruka challenged.

Ami did, and came back looking a bit confused. "That doesn't make sense..." she murmured.

"Ami, do remember when we told you that Az was giving off a strange aura?" Setsuna asked, sitting on the bed.

"Yes," Ami sighed, as she sat down in the swivel chair in front of her microscope.

"Well, we now, more than ever, believe there is something very special about Az." Setsuna started to explain.

Haruka, being her usual blunt self, in addition to tired and cranky, jumped in. "Ami, Az is an enemy, and she's to blame for the attacks. She a danger to this world, and the princess."

"How can you sat that?!" Ami yelled, standing. "Or, more important, how can you_ prove_ that?!" The normally calm Ami was now shouting in her anger.

"Ami, you felt the temperature drop. You even asked Az for a blanket. You yourself said that doesn't make sense. So how do you explain it?" Michiru used her over gentle voice.

"Maybe the air conditioning's broken." Ami spat.

"No. This cold has a magical feel to it." Setsuna said gently.

"Well, then maybe it's the yoma portion that did it. Not Az!" Ami yelled, flinging out an arm to point at the test tube.

"That yoma is dead. How likely is it that it's actively acting as an air conditioner?" Haruka barked back.

"Uh..." Michiru interrupted. "I don't think that yoma was quite as dead as we thought it was."

"What?" Ami and Haruka questioned together.

"Look." Setsuna said simply. They did. The test tube was broken, and the yoma goo was gone.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Oh drats!" Copi shouted in frustration, as a small portion of purple goo came quivering into the room.

Leon, who was sitting on the other side, arranging small animal statues what would appear to be some sort of mini stair case, which lead nowhere, smirked. "I told you such a poor _copy_ would fail..."

Copi fumed. "Quiet you. It's not as if your kagemusha had any more success..." she picked up the small portion of goo, and put it in a near by jar. "At least a portion of _mine_ got away." she snapped.

Leon continued smirking. "But did it do any damage? At least Lupin managed to hurt one of them."

Copi smiled acidly at Leon. She was just slightly shorter than he was, but she could easily grow to be taller than he. And she did so, slightly. "Are we forgetting," she stated, placing a hand on Leon's shoulder, "exactly _who_ is ranking warrior here?"

All members of the Shadow Plain were born with out a constant form. They were a race of morphing humanoids. Most, when they reached adolescence chose a definite form, and were then stuck in it for the rest of their lives. But only one had ever decided that she was happier with her moldable body; Copi. The form she usual inhabited was that of an average height, and pointed facial features. Her hair was usually long, and tied up in a top-knot. She also formed herself a long, low cut slinky dress that usually looked like it was melding with the floor. As accessories, she had long gloves, that had a section missing from them, and a band that framed her face along her hairline, and ended at her pointed ears. Pointed ears were the one thing everyone who was a Shadow Plain inhabitant had, regardless of what form they chose.

Leon slammed his fist down on the table in a sudden anger, knocking over most of his carefully placed animal statues. "One level, Copi! _One_!" He stood and whirled around to face her, which was easier now that she was tall enough to look him in the eye. He glowered. "Do you know how easily it would be for me to snatch that level from you?"

Copi seared. "You were lucky to pass Alpha and Beta to get to your measly number three position. You couldn't hope to have my spot."

Leon growled, literally, the sound coming from somewhere deep with in his throat. Then he smirked again. "So tell me, did that miserable peace of goo you pass off for a kagemusha actually do it's job, or is it my turn again?"

Copi shrank back to her usual size, and went back to the jar. She tapped at it, and the purple goo stretched itself up to form a pillar. Copi clucked her tongue, and reached into the jar. "Come on now, Saku..." She coaxed the blob by its name. "Come on out..." She finally managed to pull it out. Then, she held it up to the light, and, gripping it by its sides, she pulled it tight, until it was stretched thin, and she could almost see through it. "Ah!"

Leon raised one of his bushy eyebrows, from where he was sitting again, replacing the animals he had knocked over. "Found something?"

Copi held, between her fingers, a piece of short, sandy blond hair.

Leon smiled. "Huh. Maybe that thing-"

"Saku... And it did a good job!" Copi praised her peace of goo, as she replaced it into the jar.

"Well then, maybe _Saku_ isn't so worthless after all. Give that here." Copi handed him the hair, which he accepted in his left hand. In his right, he pulled out a large whip, and snapped it at his mini staircase, hitting one of the small statues. 

At the touch of the whip, the statue shot into the air, grew to be quite large, and then, it was a statue no longer, as it sank to sit on the floor. This particular statue was of a dog-man, so now, sitting on the floor, was a very evil looking dog-man.

"Genken! What do you smell?" Leon commanded, holding the hair out for the creature, which was apparently named 'Genken' to smell.

Genken growled, and sniffed at the hair. Then, in a rumbling voice. "The wind."

Copi blanched. "Is that all?!"

Genken barred his teeth at Copi, and growled. Leon smirked. "Don't rush him. He knows what he's doing. Carry on." This last remark was directed to the kagemusha.

"Also very strong... motor oil and engine exhaust. Little bit of burned rubber. But mainly the wind, though." Genken sat back on his haunches, apparently finished.

"Good. Now, back you go!" Leon cracked his whip again, and the exact reverse of his appearance happened, leaving Genken a small, figurine, lying on the floor. Leon picked him up, and put him back on the shelf. Then he turned to face Copi. "So."

"So. Tomorrow we find a place that smells like motor oil, engine exhaust, and burned rubber." Copi stated.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Punch! Punch! Kick! Jump! Dash!" Minako was shouting over Bunny's shoulder, as she played the newest version of the 'Sailor V' game at the Crown Game Parlor.

            "Ahh!" Both girls screamed in unison as big, red 'GAME OVER' letters appeared on the screen.

            "My last yen..." Bunny whimpered as she and Minako went to where Rei was waiting in the corner.

            "Are you finished _now_? Rei growled. "Makoto's going to have left, chasing after some cute guy, by the time we get there!"

            "Not unless you want to lend me some money...?" Bunny mentioned hopefully.

            "No! Now let'_s go_!" The three girls proceeded to dash to the Crown Parlor.

            "If you were a _professional_," Minako puffed as they rounded a corner, "your game would have lasted longer."

            "That reminds me... How come _I_ don't get my own video game?" Bunny complained as they headed up the stairs to the parlor.

            "Because nobody wants to play a game staring a ditzy girl who trips, lands on her butt, and cries." Rei jibbed.

            "Rei-chan!" Bunny whimpered, as they waked through the automatic door.

            "Bunny! Rei! Minako! Over here!" Makoto waved. She moved over in the booth to make room. "I thought you would never get here! Wait until you hear this. Show 'em, Az."

            They then noticed, for the first time, Az and Ami were also sitting in the booth. Az looked a bit embarrassed, and had a new-looking laptop in front of her.

            "It's nothing... Really..." she murmured, looking at her lap. She was wearing her sunglasses again.

            "Oh, that's simply not true!" Ami said, smiling brightly. She turned to look at Bunny. "Az is a composer, as well as a computer genius. She writes the most amazing music! She combined her two talents for our last assignment in our computer class. Listen." She reached over to Az's laptop, and pressed a button.

            Instantly, the room was filled with orchestra quality music, with all the instruments present, playing a song that they had never heard before, but was easily one of the best, and most beautiful.

            As the music ended, the three girls sat in shock, as Az continued to blush, and Makoto and Ami nodded slightly. Minako was the first to react.

            "That's so _cool_!" she shouted.

            Makoto crossed her arms, and bobbed her head. "Didn't I tell you?"

            Az continued to look down at her hands. "It's nothing, really. Just a little tune that's been in my head lately."

            Rei looked skeptical. "I composed some songs for my school's carnival once. It couldn't have been _that_ easy." Az just shrugged.

            Bunny was looking thoughtful, a strange expression for her face. "That music... It reminds me of something. Did you base it on anything, Az?"

            Az blushed. "Well, erm, yes, but it's silly."

            Ami looked interested. "Oh, tell us. Please?"

            "I don't want you to laugh at me." Az looked up.

            "We'd never laugh at you!" Minako protested.

            "Never!" Makoto agreed. Rei and Bunny nodded.

            "Well... Ok. But remember, you promised." She took a deep breath. "My original flight from America flew into Osaka, not Tokyo, so I had to take the Bullet Train to get here. On the train, they had this magazine, and it had an article about the Sailor Scouts in it."

            Ami almost dropped her glass of water. Bunny choked on the ice cream float she was 'sharing' with Rei.  The other three girls eyes grew to a large size. Az didn't notice, because she was back to looking at her lap. Ami noticed she was subconsciously pulling at her sleeves again.

            "The article just struck a cord in me, and that's the song," she gestured to her computer, "that eventually came out. It has five movements, one for each of what they call 'the inner senshi' and four bridges, one for each of the 'outer senshi'. The ending is based on the one guy, I think they called him a knight." Az explained, unaware of the looks she was getting. After a moment, she sighed. "You're trying not to laugh at me, aren't you."

            "No!" Bunny protested. "It's just that..." She faltered. 

            "It's just that we never thought we would meet anyone who liked the Sailor Scouts as much as we do." Minako picked up.

            "Yeah!" Rei agreed, a little too enthusiastically. "We're their biggest fans!"

            "Mmm!" Makoto nodded, also getting into the act. "Sailor Jupiter kicks butt!"

            Az smiled, looking relieved. "Thanks... for not laughing at me."

            "We'd never laugh at anyone." Ami reassured her.

            "Except for maybe Bunny here." Rei jibbed her again.

            "Rei-chan" Bunny's lower lip poked out.

            The girls continued to talk for a bit, before Ami and Az excused themselves, leaving money for their drinks behind.

"We only stopped in because I wanted to show you Az's project. We really must be off." Ami said as they stood to leave.

            Ami and Az walked until they were well into a residential area. "I thought that we'd take a new way today." Ami said, as she smelled some bleeding hearts. "This neighborhood has absolutely gorgeous flowers."

            "Ami," Az said, as they continued to walk, "where'd you get my phone number?"

            Ami stopped, surprised. "What?"

            "Last night. You called me, remember?" Az explained, also stopping. "I asked you then, and you said you got it out of the college directory. I went to the main office today, to ask them to remove it, and it wasn't there, Ami. I know I didn't tell it to you, so how'd you get it?" She questioned. She almost seamed a bit angry.

            Ami faltered, searching for an excuse, but finding none.

            "Ami?" Az pressed.

            Ami dropped her eyes. "Do you promise not to tell a single living soul?"

            Az looked surprised, and then serious. "Yes, of course."

            Ami sighed, brought out her mini computer, opened it, and showed it to Az. "This is what I call my mini computer. It has 50x the searching capacity, over 1000x the memory storage, and unlimited banks of information, all in comparison to the computers of today. All that compacted into a hand held, light, easy traveling, durable package. Its much more advanced than the most...well, advanced computer around today. I used it by habit to look up your number."

            Az gasped, and took the mini computer in her hands. As she pressed buttons, her mouth went up and down, but no sound came out. Eventually, she gasped. "Ami! This is incredible! Did you build this?!"

            Ami blushed and took her computer back. "You flatter me. It's actually a bit of a... a family heirloom, if you will." she snapped it shut.

            "How old is it, then?" She snapped her sunglasses away from her face again, revealing the bruise, but not caring, as she continued to examine the mini computer.

            Ami winced at this question. "Uh, lets just say, very, very old."

            "Amazing..." Az whispered. "And that's the sign of Mercury, isn't it, on the cover?"

            "Yes" Ami admitted.

            "Mercury... He was the messenger god, wasn't he?  But he was also one of the most intelligent, too. Right?" Ami nodded. "Appropriate." Az whispered. "Mercury's also the name of one of the Sailor Scouts." The last statement wasn't actually directed at her, so Ami let it pass.

            "Ami..." Az suddenly turned to her, a soft light glowing behind her eyes. "Do you want to know a secret of mine? Like a trade. A secret for a secret. Only you have to swear on all the gods not to tell mine."

_            "Maybe she's going to tell me about her bruises."_ Ami thought. "Of course."

            "Swear, Ami. My life could be on the line if you ever told anyone." Az demanded, dead serious. "Also, swear you won't think I'm a freak." Az continued, big eyes. 

            "I swear on all the ancient Gods of the world, that I won't tell. And may Mercury strike me down if I break this promise." Suddenly, Ami had a flash back to years not to far past.

_            "Look, it's that super genius, Ami. She thinks she's so great..."_

_            "I hear she's smarter than the teachers, but she refuses to be moved up..."_

_            "What a stuck up showoff..."_

_            "Brain farm geek..."_

            It had been a few years since anyone had said that to her, but the voices echoed through time, and they still hurt. "I'd never call_ anyone_ a freak." She italicized.

            "Ok." Az seamed satisfied with this promise. She then looked around, to make sure nobody else was watching. The neighborhood was strangely deserted, however, for this time of day.

            Seeing this, Az gently crossed her arms over her chest, and closed her eyes. A moment went by, when Ami realized that the temperature of the air around Az was becoming rapidly cooler. Soon, ice particles formed into large snowflakes, and began to swirl around Az.

_            "No! Haruka can't be right! What _is_ this?"_ Ami frantically thought.

            Az opened her green eyes, and threw her arms open. Now the snowflakes shot out in front of her, and began to merge with one another, growing into a humanoid male figure. He wore a long sleeve cut neck shirt into his ice leather-like pants. The pants were toped by a large belt that was the size of the figures' thorax. At the bottom, calf high boots covered the pants. Ami looked in awe, noticing the soft masculine face and long white hair. The over all look was very bishonen.

            The ice man looked quizzingly at Ami, almost as if to study her, and then turned to Az, and made a bubbling, cooing noise, from deep within his throat. The noise clicked immediately in Ami's mind.

            "Snow Dancer?!" she almost shouted, and began to reach for her henshin stick.

            "No, it's ok!"  Az grabbed on to Ami. "Remember your promise!"

            Ami paused. "I don't think you're a freak, Az, but the last time I saw something like that, it turned out to be dangerous! Really, _really_ dangerous!"

            Az shook her head. "No, my Bisetsu are friendly! They were my childhood companions, and they are always there to help me. They'd never hurt anyone, unless I ordered them to, and I wouldn't!"

            Ami blinked. "Bisetsu?"

            Az blushed slightly. "I named them when I was very little. I know, I know... It's a weird name.... But it seams appropriate, somehow." She smiled a little. The Bisetsu cooed, trying to get her attention.

            "But... How?" Ami asked weakly.

            Az shook her head. "I don't know how. I learned I could do it when- Oh!" she shouted out in alarm.

            Ami quickly looked back at the Bisetsu. It had formed a giant clock out of snow and ice, and was frantically pointing at the hands.

"I'm late! Again!" The snow dancer suddenly faded away, his message having been delivered. "Karl will kill me!" she dashed down the street.

            "Az! Wait!" Ami yelled after her.

            "I can't be late again!" Az shouted without looking back.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Az slowly pushed her front door open, trying to make it so it didn't creak. It didn't, to her relief, and she slipped into the dark entryway, forgetting to lock the door behind her. She fumbled for the light switch in the dark, finally found it, and flicked it on. Then she felt her stomach drop into a pit, and fought back a scream.

The walls were splattered in blood. A lot of it.

"G-grandma? Karl?" She called into the house, fighting back the urge to run, or throw up, or scream, or all three. "Where are you? Are you alright?" She slowly walked into the house. The wooden floor was slick with blood.

"In here, Azrielle." Karl's voice came from the living room. He sounded frightened.

"Karl? Are you ok?" She dashed to the back of the house, and opened the sliding door into the room. This time, she did scream, but stopped after Karl smacked her.

Her grandmother's body was in her favorite rocking chair, her blood soaked knitting still in her lap. She had been so horribly cut up that any recognizable feature at all was gone, leaving a bloody mess behind. 

Az rocked back from Karl's blow. "Karl, what-?" She was cut off.

"Where have you been?" He harshly demanded. "You were supposed to be home an hour ago." His voice no longer sounded afraid. It now sounded like something Az had never heard before. Something evil.

"I-I-I-" Az fumbled, trying to get her bearings. Their grandmother was murdered, and he was worried about Az's tardiness? "I lost track of time." She finally answered.

Karl, inhumanly quick, snatched up Az's wrists. His hands were damp and sticky. "Lost track of time?!" He yelled.

"Please, Karl- You're hurting me! Have you called the police yet?" she tried to pull away, pleading.

Karl tightened his grip. He smirked. "Call the police? Why in Hell would I do that?" He laughed, very devilishly.

"Karl, Grandma's-" Once again she was cut off.

"Dead. I know. I killed her." his smile was large. He was obviously pleased with himself.

"No. No!" Az whispered, looking in horror at her brother. Her voice quivered. "You didn't!" She suddenly felt her body tossed away. She landed roughly in the hallway in her back. She scooted away, sliding in the blood. Karl sauntered after her, blocking her exit out of the house. He held out his hands. "Take a look at me, Azrielle. Proof enough for you?"

Az looked at him; really looked at him closely, and noticed all the blood stains on him. The kind you can only get from slaughtering a living creature. He was holding his hands out, also. They were slick with blood.

She looked at him in the face. "Why, Karl?" she blankly asked.

He shrugged, and then reached for the hall closet door, and ripped it out of it's sliding track, with an inhuman amount of strength, and threw it at the front door, permanently blocking the exit.

But that wasn't what Az was worried about at the moment. From the now doorless closet had fallen another body. The body of her father.

Az moaned. "Daddy...! No, please no..."

Karl grabbed the body by the head, and holding it up with his left hand, he worked the mouth up and down with his right, making a grotesque puppet of sorts.

"_Hi, Baby It's me, Daddy._" Karl made the corpse speak. "_I just dropped in with your mother to say we've reconciled our differences, and want to uproot you and your brother again. Sorry for the inconvenience..._"

"Stop it, Karl!" Az screamed, "_Stop!_"

Karl twisted the corpse's head around so that it looked like it was looking at him. The neck made a sickening cracking noise when he did. "Oh, but _daddy_," He spat the word out, "we're happy here with Grandma. Never mind that she's senile, and couldn't take proper care of a stuffed animal, let alone herself and two kids. That doesn't matter. We want to stay here, with the crazy old bat. Don't you want us to be happy?"

The corpse was 'talking' again. "_Oh, no, son. I don't give a damn about what you want. The only thing that's of any matter is how your mother and I feel like traumatizing you currently._" The neck cracked again, as it turned to 'look' at Az. "_Isn't that right, Baby?_"

"_STOP IT!_" Az screamed, and continued to back up.

Karl, straightened up, now tired of that game, and ready for a new one. "I've got an idea, Azrielle. Why don't we see how long it takes you to find Mother's body?"

Suddenly, a realization came to Az. Her brother had always been a mean spirited boy, but lately, he had become possessive angry, hateful, and positively evil all the time. Az had dismissed it all, but now it was clear.

"Who are you? Where's Karl?" She demanded of the body in front of her.

He laughed. "Oh, don't worry, sister dearest. I'm still Karl. Just with a few new... additions." He smiled, evilly, revealing fangs. His eyes turned red, and began to glow, and his fingernails became sharp claws. "Those old idiots didn't have much life force left... but you... You will make an excellent meal!" He extended his hands again, palms up. But now, the palms both had a small mouth on them, filled with sharp, needle like teeth.

Az screamed.


	4. Chapter Three

Rei was sitting in a field of flowers this time, wearing a long red dress and broad sun hat. And she was consciously aware that she was dreaming.

"Where... Am I?" Her voice echoed strangely, in the summer sun. "Is anybody out there? Hello?" She cupped her hands, and shouted, but nobody answered.

Shrugging, she sat back down in the flowers, supposing that the meaning of the dream would become clear soon, and if not, she could always ask the great fire. She picked a violet that was growing next to a cluster of tiny adlevice, and held it under her nose.

As she was inhaling the sweet fragrance (flowers always smelled better in dreams than in real life) an icy wind started to blow. Rei looked up at the sun, expecting dark clouds to blow across it, as they always did when this kind of wind blew, but none did. She stood, looking around for any changes, and immediately saw one. 

Where she had been sitting in an endless field of flowers in a mountain bowl before, now she saw ice creeping in around the edges of the field, freezing the flowers. And she could see something dancing.

"Snow... Dancers?" She shook her head. That didn't seam right, somehow. Picking up the edges of her skirt, she started towards one of the swirling masses of snow. After what seamed like a five-minute walk, with the air becoming steadily colder, she reached the edge of the flower field, where several 'Snow Dancers' ("No, that's not it...") were twirling, and freezing the flowers.

"Hello!" She called out to them. "What are you doing?" For some reason, she wasn't afraid. Perhaps it was because she knew it was a dream, and she would wake up if anything went wrong, but...

One of the swirling masses of snow stopped dancing, and walked over to where Rei was standing. Walked. Something one of Kaguya's Snow Dancers had never done. That and her dancers were all female. This one was defiantly male.

"Ehhh..." Rei paused, slightly winded both by the sudden drop in temperature by his arrival, and by his very charming features. "Why.... Uh, Why are you in my dream?" She didn't know weather dream creatures knew they were dream creatures, so she had no idea how this would effect this.... Bisetsu? Why was that word in her mind all of a sudden?

The... Bisetsu shrugged, and tinkled out a sound from his throat. Then he lifted his hand. When he did, several other Bisetsu ("_Why does that word seam so right_?") appeared by his side. He communicated with them, using the cooing language Rei supposed was common among all Ice people. Suddenly, all of them, (there were about seven now, by Rei's count) started to swirl upwards. As they did, a glittering ice sculpture was left in their wake. 

As they spiraled higher and higher, their trails of snow interlocking, it became clear to Rei that they were making an ice sculpture of a Sailor Scout. At first, she thought it might be Mercury, due to the knee high, pointed boots, but when they reached the front bow, Rei noticed that the center of the bow wasn't a knot, or a brooch, or a crystal. It was a snowflake.

Rei woke up. The bright field of flowers was gone, leaving only the wooden beamed ceiling of her temple room. As she sat up intent on going to the fire room to speak with the great fire, she realized that she couldn't remember her dream. This startled her, as she always remembered her dreams, so she quickly delved into her subconscious, chasing after any remaining particles of the dream. But she found none.

"Something.... Flowers, and Scouts and.... Snow white eyebrows?" She murmured to herself, trying to remember. But even as she concentrated on these last remaining articles, they slipped from her grasp, and she couldn't even remember why she was out of bed.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Michiru was practicing her violin when the phone began to ring. She looked at the thing, scornfully. When ever she was in the middle of something, it always managed to ring. Sighing, she gently placed the violin and bow on a table, and answered the infernal ringing device.

"Moshi moshi, this is Michiru speaking."

_"Michiru! It's Ami... I'm worried about Az... She didn't show up for class today..."_

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Ugh! This place positively _reeks _of death and evil." Sailor Mars took a step back.

"Steady." Sailor Jupiter said, as she pushed Rei back forward.

Sailor Mars, Jupiter, Neptune and Mercury stood outside the Abyss residence. Luna was there also. That had been all Ami had been able to gather on short notice.

"Well, what are you all standing about for? Let's go." Luna commanded from her spot on Mercury's shoulder.

"No time like the present." Neptune muttered, as she walked up to the door, and tried it. It would budge. "Huh. It's stuck..." she murmured.

Sailor Jupiter came up next to her, and also tried it. Her version of 'trying it' however, consisted of a high kick, cracking the door in two. Then she broke the pieces out of the frame, one at a time. 

"Well," she commented, once the front door was out of the way. "That would have been the problem." she gestured to the closet door in the entryway. The Abyss home had a western style front door, which opened inwards. The second door prevented that.

"My Lord..." Neptune whispered as Jupiter knocked the second door out of the way.

"I believe you were correct in being worried about Azrielle... Something is not right in this house." Luna stated the obvious, as the four scouts stood in shock, seeing the now dried blood stains.

Mars wrinkled her nose. "Something evil is in there." 

"That's never stopped us before. Some on." Neptune stepped over the threshold, and into the house. The others followed. They soon came to the end of the hallway, and had two choices. Left or right.

"Neptune... Who... What could have done this?" Mercury gasped, trying not to throw up, as the scouts looked from the body on their right in the living room, and the body on their left in the hall way. The smell of day old bodies was almost over powering.

"A demon. From Hell." Mars answered instead.

"Shhh!" Luna suddenly demanded. "I hear something!" The scouts paused, while Luna's ear twitched. "It sounds like... crying! Coming from that direction!" Luna used her paw to point to the left.

"Ohhh... I don't want to pass that body..." Jupiter moaned, her skin tone starting to match her fuku.

"We have to." Mercury took a deep breath, almost wretched on the rotten air, closed her eyes, and walked pass, towards the end of the hall. The others followed. Once past the body, they found themselves facing three doors. The once to the left and right were open, while the one directly in front of them was closed. 

"Looks like a fight took place in there." Jupiter commented, peering into the room on the left. It looked like it had used to be a bedroom. Now it was in shambles.

"Same over here." Luna added.  It was true.

"Shall we try the door?" Neptune asked, not expecting an answer, as she opened the final door. Behind it, they found a dark staircase, leading into the ground.

"We... we have to go down...._there_?" Sailor Mars asked nervously. "Oh... I don't like this at all.... Not at all..."

Neptune put her hand on the wall, found the light switch, and flipped the lights on. She immediately wished she hadn't.

Azrielle's mother was at the bottom of the steps. It looked like she had been pushed. Her neck was broken, and her body was sliced up.

"Ohhh..." Somebody moaned, but nobody could tell who.  Finally Mars spoke up. "We... We've come this far. No point in turning back now." She swallowed heavily, and headed down the steps. The others followed.

The basement looked like it had at one point been a rec-room. It had white wallpaper with green pinstripes, and fuzzy green carpet. The furniture that inhabited the room was almost impossible to tell what it had once been, it was so broken up. A table leg lay here, a chair backing there, and, following with the theme of the main floor, plenty of blood. After a moment, Neptune located the source of the sound Luna had heard.

"Look." She pointed into the corner.

There, in an upright fetal position, was Azrielle. She was sobbing and bloody. The sleeves of her shirt had been ripped, revealing many nasty looking bruises cuts, burns and scars on her arms. The bruise on her face had a new companion, and her hair was in a state of total disarray.

The source of her distress was instantly apparent. Laying not more than a foot from her was her brother's body. He was face down on the floor, and his hands were outstretched towards Az, like a man in the desert reaching for water.

"Az!" Sailor Mercury cried out, and started towards her.

Both Sailor Mars and Az cried out at the same time, "No!" Mars grabbed her and pulled her back.

"What are you doing, Mars? We have to help her!" Mercury struggled against Mars.

"No..." Az moaned. "Don't come any closer. He'll get you too..." she let out a dry sob.

"But he's dead, Az. He can't hurt you, or anyone else any more." Neptune spoke gently, taking a step forward.

"No!" Mars shouted again "I said, stay back!" She was glaring at the body on the floor.

"He only looks dead..." Az mumbled shaking her head. "He's just like those fish... lay still then _snap_ it's over... Just one more, he said... Somebody young... Oh, _please_ stay away!" She pleaded, tears still sliding down her cheek.

"Huh." Sailor Jupiter looked at the body down her nose. "He smells dead, definitely."

"No, go away... No more blood..." she cried into her arms.

Suddenly Sailor Mercury finally broke out of Mar's hold. "I don't care, I have to help her!" she shouted, and dashed forward.

"No, Mercury, _don't_!" Mars screamed, but it was too late.

As Mercury was dashing forward, Karl's hand shifted faster than the eye could see, and grabbed her ankle. Mercury gasped, and then yelled as a sharp pain flew up from her ankle.

"NO!" Az screamed.

Karl was standing now, holding Mercury upside down. Mercury was yelling, both from the pain in her ankle, and the embarrassment of being held upside down in her mini-skirt.

"Attack it!" Luna shouted.

Jupiter nodded. "Sparkling... Wide...." Neptune grabbed Jupiter's arm, as she was winding back.

"No! You might hit Mercury or Az!" Jupiter scowled, and let the attack dissipate. 

"No!" Az was shouting over and over. "No no no no no!"

"Somebody do something!" Luna shouted. "Mercury's bleeding!" It was true. Blood was flowing from under Karl's grip on Mercury's ankle.

"Do something? What can you do? With this last life energy, I will have the strength to drain Azrielle, and then, with the death of all my family at my hands, I will have become invincible!" Karl spoke, barring the way for anyone to rescue Az, while fending off the kicks of Mercury's other leg with his other hand.

"I don't think so!" Mars growled, as she produced an Omamori, and held it straight. "Rin, pyou, tou sha, kai, jin, retsu, sai, zen. Akiryou taisan!" She yelled and threw the scroll.

Karl screamed in pain as the scroll landed and stuck to his forehead. Upon contact with his body, the scroll burst into flames, and the flames quickly engulfed his entire head, and then his body. He was so busy battling the flames, that he dropped Mercury, who crawled over to Az, despite the profuse bleeding of her ankle, and put her arms around the other girl.

"You can't do this to me! I had a deal!" Karl screamed in his torment. "_I had a deal!_"

Neptune scowled. "Now you know what happens to people who make deals with the Devil."

"Burning... Mandala!"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Haruka and Hotaru stood in the parking lot of Kanagu Mise, a large, six story auto-parts store in which Haruka was a regular. Looking upon the building, Hotaru noticed a couple walking a large dog enter.

"Welcome, Hotaru, to the Beautiful World of Automotive Love!" Haruka said, her eyes glimmering with little stars. "Isn't it great?" Haruka, with a large smile asked.

"It's, uh, fantastic!" Hotaru nicely answered. Changing the subject, "Haruka-papa, why are we here?" she asked, pulling her shoulder length tresses out of her face.

Haruka let out a sigh of happiness. "Tires, Hotaru-chan. Tires." Then she started towards the front door.

Hotaru followed, and rolled her eyes once Haruka was safely in front of her, thinking about the answer. _"Makes sense, seeing as Haruka-papa peels out at every green, and drives faster than light."_ When she looked up, she realized she was in the store. Large aisles covered with things Hotaru knew nothing about filled the room. Black and White checkered floors reached as far as the eye could see. Orange walls were hidden by posters, merchandise, and bulletin boards.

"Smell the air, feel the tires, listen to the transmission!" Haruka said; she startled Hotaru back to awareness. Hotaru looked at Haruka, who was skipping through the aisles now, checking each item. Hotaru shook her head, smiling, at the glee the older girl was displaying. Finally deciding to look at a nearby bulletin board, Hotaru checked the flyers. 

"Eating contest, House sitting job, Kitties..." She mumbled to herself. "Oh!" She exclaimed, as she noticed a flashy yellow and orange poster, with a border made of a pattern of red and white circles. "'Pokemon Convention!" she read aloud. "Starting Sunday, and running two weeks. Come see these amazing creatures and their trainers as the Island nations of Kento, Jhoto, and others, exhibit their fantastic wildlife for the first time ever!' Wow! Haruka-papa! I want to go to this pokemon convention!" She waited for a response, but didn't get one. "Haruka-papa?" she tried again, her eyes never leaving the poster, which also held pictures of what she could only presume were pokemon. "Haruka?" She began to search down the aisles, looking for Haruka. After all, the poster wasn't going anywhere.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Leon, your kagemusha had better not be leading us on a wild goose chase." Coco Jinguji hissed into her 'husbands' ear. Lee and herself were walking behind Genken, whom Copi had cleverly disguised as a real dog.

"Don't worry, dear." Lee spoke aloud sweetly, "We'll be in and out in no time at all." He continued, as so none would hear the true conversation. Genken looked up and sniffed at a sandy-blond man and his purple haired daughter as they entered the store, they child looking less than thrilled to be there. But their scents were covered by Coco's perfume, so he dismissed it. "Come boy." Lee commanded and tugged on the purple leash. The three walked into the store, and began their way down the aisles, searching for the wind.

After a while, Genken looked up again. They had made almost a complete run of the entire store by now, but he seamed to be following a trail. He whacked his tail on Lee's leg. "It's here..." He growled, the sound coming from deep in his throat.

"Are you sure?!" Coco forcefully questioned.

"Positive," the canine reassured.

"Well then, _find it_!" Lee ordered. Genken put his nose back to the floor, and lead Coco and Lee quickly up and down several aisles. Suddenly, he lifted his head, snuffed the air, and made a beeline to the far aisle. "That's it!" He growled, pointing with his nose to Haruka, who was examining different paint colours.

The three pulled back to where Haruka couldn't see them. "Well? What are you waiting for?" Coco asked. "Attack!"

Genken shredded Copi's disguise as he transformed into his true beast form. Coco and Lee also both shed their disguises, becoming Copi and Leon again.

"Sailor Solder!" Genken addressed Haruka, "Surrender or die!"

"What?" Haruka questioned, pretending to be confused. Genken wasted no time in charging Haruka, who jabbed Genken's chest, and flipped him over her back and into the next aisle.

"How dare you!?" Leon cried, as the people in the next aisle over began to scream in terror at Genken. He grabbed a twelve gallon pant bucket from the floor, that was full of metallic blue paint, and threw it at Haruka, who was knocked into a corner, as an avalanche of various parts fell down in a wall between her and Leon. Taking the opportunity Fate had so nicely handed her, she leapt to her feet while she was out of view. "Uranus Planet Power, Make UP!" she commanded, while grabbing her henshin, leaving her index finger out stretched. Haruka spun the wand around herself and did a 180. A circle of light formed at her feet. Lightning like beams covered her body until Sailor Uranus tossed her hair and took her finishing pose.

Sailor Uranus ran back to the aisle where she had been attacked, knocking debris from the fallen shelf out of her way as she went. "Invited by the new era, and with the Blessings of Uranus, the planet of wind, the Sailor Scout of the Heavens; the magnificent fighter, Sailor Uranus!" She called, looking straight into Genken and Leon's eyes.

"Genken," Leon ordered, "Attack her!" Sailor Uranus snorted.

Genken lunged at Sailor Uranus, who high kicked him to the ground. As soon as he hit, however, he grabbed Sailor Uranus's legs, and puller her to the ground with him. Once Uranus had fallen, he wrapped his large hairy arms around her, and held her up so Leon could attack.

"Ringleaders' Lashing!" He roared, as he flung his weighted cat-o-nine-tails whip at Sailor Uranus. The attack powered whip struck her stomach, and she cried out in pain, glaring at Leon.

"Haruka-papa, there's...!" Hotaru suddenly appeared at the end of the aisle, stopping when she saw Sailor Uranus held by Genken, and Leon preparing to attack again.

Leon immediately recognized her, as the child of the sandy-blond 'man' who had walked in a bit after them; the child of whom Genken now held. "Copi!" Leon cried to his partner, who had disguised herself as a wall, "grab that girl!" Very quickly, Copi demorphed, and wrapped her now rope-like limbs around Hotaru.

"NO!" Uranus cried. Kicking her legs over her head, she managed to free herself from Genken's grasp.

Copi shouted in frustration. "You useless kagemusha! Now she's going to attack!"

"Kagemusha? Is that what you people are calling your pathetic minions this turn round?" Uranus growled, as she lowered herself to start a running tackle at Copi.

 Turning her attention to Sailor Uranus, Copi smiled evilly, placing her head next to Hotaru's. "Oh," Copi sympathized, "All that love and justice you people talk about will be killed if you take another step." Hotaru shouted in frustration, as she tried unsuccessfully to free herself from Copi's moldable body. Copi laughed.

Sailor Uranus quickly grabbed an orb of light, it's rays shining through her fingers. "World...." the energy formed a ringed planet, as she lifted it above her head. "SHAKING!" She threw it to the floor. The orb bounced off the floor, and hit Copi's head, missing Hotaru by a hair. "Hotaru!" she shouted, trying to run to her adoptive daughter. Hotaru quickly took the opportunity to dash to safety. 

"I don't think so! Ring Leaders' Lashing!" Leon yelled once again attacked Sailor Uranus, throwing his whip out, where it wrapped around her ankles, knocking her to the floor. "Genken! Get the human child!" He shouted at his kagemusha.

As this happened, Copi stood up, shakily from the floor, holding her head. "Ow! That hurt you Brat!" She screamed in frustration. "I'm out of here! You can handle this, Leon!" she dissolved into a puddle, and exited under a door crack.

"Get back here!" Leon shouted after her, obviously angry.

"Saturn Planet Power, Make UP!" a voice came from a few aisles over, as a purple light filled the store. Presently, Sailor Saturn emerged.

"Genken! Forget the girl! Get her!" Leon commanded.

Genken howled, leapt into the air, intent on landing on the small, scythe-toting girl.

"Silence Wall!" Saturn called, as she threw he scythe out, creating a shielding bubble around herself, which Genken crashed into, his claws scratching horribly. He tried to chew his way through but couldn't, so he leapt off, and to his masters side.

"Saturn! Careful!" Sailor Uranus called out, as she tried to free herself from the whip.

Sailor Saturn turned to face Leon and Genken. "I am Sailor Saturn, Bringer of Death. I have no pity for those who have no regard for the well being of others, and who disrupt innocents while shopping. Prepare yourselves!" She shouted.

"Ha!" Leon laughed. "You- The one out of the entire range of scouts who could have stopped us, and yet stood by and let us destroy the Silver Millennium? What can you do now?" 

Sailor Saturn tightened her grip on her staff. "How dare you!?" she shouted, trying to hold back her tears. "I would have defeated all of you in one blow had it not been..." She choked on her own words.

"Saturn! Careful! He's trying to-Ah!" Uranus was attempting to warn Saturn, when Genken launched an all out attack at her. 

"No! Uranus!" Saturn let her attention be drawn to where Sailor Uranus was barely fending off Genken's teeth and claws. She threw her scythe out once again. "Silence Glaive Surprise!" She called out, sending the attack directly into Genken. 

Howling with pain, Genken once again retreated to Leon's side. Leon growled, the sound rumbling in his throat. "Little girl," He stated, his large bushy eyebrows coming down over his eyes, "you are beginning to annoy me." With out warning, he released his whip from around Sailor Uranus's ankles, and threw it out at Saturn, striking her across the mouth. "Ringleaders' lashing!"

"Aii!" She screamed in pain, as she felt blood begin to flow.

"_Saturn!_" Sailor Uranus screamed, leaping to her feet.

Saturn wiped the back of her hand across her mouth, and the white glove came away bloody. She glared at Leon. "Death... Reborn..." She started, as she lifted her scythe above her head.

"Saturn, _NO_!" Uranus screamed desperately.

"REVOLUTION!" She let the scythe fall, blade first. 

The entire building began to shake, and the overhead lights began to explode, one at a time, sending showers of glass and sparks everywhere. Then the floor cracked, the black and white tiles falling in the new crevasse. 

"No!" Leon shouted, as he hastily retreated out of the building, using a teleport. Genken whimpered, and dodged the sections of the falling building.

"Saturn, what have you done?!" Uranus finally reached the younger scout, and grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her out of the slight trance she was in. "Let's go! This entire place is going to collapse!"

Uranus scooped her up, and sprinted for the door, leaping over fallen beams, and pushing her self to the limits, as the building fell around her. _"Oh god, I hope everyone left after the attack started!"_ Uranus prayed silently to herself, as she neared the door.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"What the hell were you thinking?" Leon shouted, as he materialized in front of Copi.

Copi looked up from her project. "Hmm? I take it you didn't kill the scout." She frowned. "You're pathetic. You can't even take care of one pathetic Scout."

"I can take care of one scout fine!" He said, swiping his arm across the table, knocking all of the glass beakers Copi had been studying to the floor, most of them shattering. "But when the all mighty Scout of _Death_ shows up, I'm bound to have a little trouble!"

Copi stood bolt up. "You idiot! I've been working on that for months!"

"I couldn't care less, Copi. The Master wont be very happy when he learns that one attack had your running from the battle, like the fool you are." Leon growled, his voice reverting to an animal like thunder.         

"How was I to know that Sailor Saturn would show up?!" She snapped irritably. She was about to say something else, when a knock echoed through the room.

"Uh- Hello? Is everything ok?" a voice called.

Copi shot a look at Leon, who returned it. They both slipped into their disguises of Lee and Coco, and exited the sub-space pocket that their master had provided for their mission, and left the closet and entered the almost too-perfect living room of the Jinguji's.

Coco hustled to the kitchen, while Lee, pulling a pipe out of his pocket, answered the door. "Can I help you?"

Makoto blinked, and looked a bit embarrassed. "Oh, well, I thought I heard shouting, and I wanted to make sure everything was alright. I thought a bugler, or something..." She trailed off.

"Oh, Makoto, what a wonderful thing to do!" Mr. Jinguji said, smiling, as he lit his pipe, and stuck it in the corner of his mouth. "But everything's perfect here. Isn't that right, dear?" 

Mrs. Jinguji's head emerged from the kitchen, smiling. "Of course. We never fight, do we dear?"

Mr. Jinguji returned the smile. They both had perfect teeth. "That's right, muffin."

Makoto tried very hard not to gag. "Oh, well then... I guess I'll be leaving then."

"Oh no, please stay. You ran out so suddenly the last time you were here, we never got to talk! Please sit down!" Mr. Jinguji took Makoto by the arm, and lead the nervous girl to the couch. "Dear, would you bring out some snacks, and some tea?" He called.

"In just a minute!" the Missus called back.

"So, Makoto, anything new happening with you today?" Mr. Jinguji asked, puffing on his pipe.

"Uhm, not really. A friend of a friend had a bit of a crisis on her hands that was a bit startling but..."

"Oh, nothing to serious, I hope?" Mr. Jinguji pressed.

"Well, actually, it was. Her brother went psycho, and killed the rest of her family."

"That's horrible! How on earth did she manage to escape?" Mr. Jinguji asked, making the proper face of sympathy.

"Ahh, well...."

"Was it the Sailor Scouts?" Mrs. Jinguji entered the room, carrying a tray full of tea and cookies. "Because I heard that there was quite a ruckus involving at least two of them down at a hardware store this afternoon, too."

Makoto raised her eyebrow "Really? I hadn't heard that."

"Oh, yes. Apparently, there was some sort of attack, and two of them showed up." Mrs. Jinguji sat down, and placed the tray on the coffee table. "I can't remember who, exactly.... Dear?" She referred the question to Lee.

"I believe that it was... Now lets see here.... Sailor Uranus? Does that sound right?" Mrs. Jinguji nodded. "And then the other one was.... Well, I can't remember he title, but she's the one in purple, with a large scythe."

Makoto's eyes widened, slightly. "Sailor Saturn?"

"Yes, she's the one." 

"Oh.... Well, um.... I'd really like to stay and talk, but, I, um...." Makoto thought desperately of some way out of the apartment. "Oh! I left a good friend of mine waiting for me on a long distance call! I gotta go!" And with that, she once again fled the Jinguji's apartment.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Hotaru sat quietly in the passenger seat of Haruka's car. Haruka was not happy. At all. After the building had been leveled, they had quickly demorphed, and raced away in Haruka's sporty blue convertible.

Finally, when she couldn't bare the silence any longer, Hotaru spoke up. "Ahno... Haruka-papa?" She said, so quietly, it was almost a whisper. Haruka didn't react. "I... uhh... didn't mean too..."

"Damn right you didn't mean too." Haruka snapped, never taking her eyes from the road. "Didn't it ever even enter your head that you are the scout of _death_ and_ destruction_?! What did you think was going to happen? I am _damn_ glad that you didn't destroy the entire city. Or the entire world, for that matter."

Hotaru winced. "Haruka-papa.... I.... I was caught up...."

This time Haruka jerked the steering wheel sharply to the left, pulling the car over to the side of the road, and stepping on the breaks so hard that Hotaru was surprised that she didn't go through the window. "You got caught up? You got _caught up_?! God damn it, Hotaru, you were in a six story building! A _shopping center_, for crying out loud! What if some people had been trapped in the building? What if they had gotten killed, simply because _you_ got _caught up_?!"

"B-but nobody was-" Hotaru trembled, tears coming to her eyes.

Haruka turned and grabbed Hotaru by the shoulders and shook her "_What if_?!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Hotaru sobbed. "Please, I'm sorry!"

Haruka stopped shaking the fragile young girl, and covered her face with her hands. "Hotaru, I _know_ you're sorry, but that doesn't change what you did. Back before the Inner and Outer Senshi were united, when the Death Busters were trying to take over, Michiru and I had the task of finding the Pure Heart Crystals. Do you have any memories of that time, Hotaru?"

Hotaru sniffed. "A few... But... Don't you and Michiru and Setsuna have the crystals? In the form of talismans?"

Haruka nodded. "Yeh... But we didn't know that. All we knew is that we had to find them before the Death Busters did." She sighed deeply. "We thought that the Crystals were probably in the bodies of normal humans. And we also knew that taking the Crystals would kill the one they were taken from. But we knew what we had to do, and we knew we would do it." She turned to look at Hotaru again. "It's our job to do the dirty work for the inner senshi. We don't like doing it, but if it has to be done, to protect this world, and the Princess, we will do it. But what you did today was simply careless. The loss of any human life would have been pointless... And murder. Do you understand why I'm so upset with you, Hotaru? If or when we have to kill, we find any way around it we can. But letting loose an uncontrollable attack would just..." She stopped, trying to find the right words. "It would just simply be against everything we stand for."

"I know that, Haruka-papa. But... Setsuna told me that I had to start trying to control my powers... That if I couldn't control my 'Death Reborn Revolution' the world could hang in the balance. She said that I could control my level of destruction to a single person, as apposed to the entire world. She told me to try containing the power of on the next Yoma we fought..."

"Kagemusha. That's what they're calling them now. And I think it's time I had a little chat with Setsuna." Haruka said evenly, as she speed off again.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Michiru grumbled to herself, as she mixed up two aspirin into a glass of water, and downed it. Then she sat down on the couch, turned on the TV, and closed her eyes. This afternoon had not been pretty. 

Sailor Mars had successfully exorcized the demon inhabiting Karl, but had taken Karl's sole with, as payment. Which meant that Karl was now dead. Azrielle took the news fairly well, only screaming a little. Sailor Mercury was bleeding profusely from her ankle, but she still managed to calm down the hysterical girl while Jupiter contacted the police. As soon as the sirens could be heard, all four of them brought Azrielle up from the basement- Quite a task, as Mercury was limping, and Azrielle put up quite a fuss when she had to walk past her family's bodies, but They managed to pull her from the house, just as the police showed up. Of course there had been questions... But Sailor Scouts never stay around to answer questions, so all four scouts and Luna had quickly vanished.

After she had seen Ami safely home, and helped her tend to her ankle, Michiru had headed home. When she arrived, she remembered that Haruka had taken Hotaru shopping, and Setsuna had vanished, once again.

"We interrupt this broadcast to bring you this Tokyo News Update." the TV suddenly said. Michiru opened one eye, to glance at the TV, but as soon as she saw what was on, she was sitting up, eyes wide.

"The Kanagu Mise, a prominent auto parts store, was leveled this afternoon, by mysterious forces. Witnesses say that they were shopping when a Yoma showed up, and began to harass patrons of the store. Soon after, it's reported that at least one Sailor Scout was there, battling the Yoma. We have here Store Manager, Mr. Kenji Tsubo. Your comments, sir?"

The TV now showed an average looking businessman, in his late thirties. "Well," He said, "As soon as that yoma showed up, I had the store evacuated. And now that I look back on it, That's probably a good thing, as nothing could have survived being crushed by something like that."     

"Thank you, Mr. Tsubo. It was reported by one patron of the store, that, as the dust was settling, a figure ran from the building, carrying what would appear to be a child, but neither could be found for comment, as they soon dissa-"

Michiru turned off the TV, and went to get some more aspirin. As she was downing her second glass that day, she heard the front door open. Setting the glass down, she went out to confront her family.

"So. Have a good time shopping?" She asked, her voice less than friendly.

Haruka raised an eyebrow, while Hotaru looked at the carpet. "I take it you heard about Hotaru's little accident."

"_Little_?" Michiru looked at Haruka like she was mad. "Haruka, how could you let her do something like that?!"

"Well, first of all, I was tied up at the time. Literally. And second, I've already talked to Hotaru about it, and I don't think she needs to hear it a second time from you."

Michiru placed a hand on her face. "Haruka. Hotaru. Do you two realize that they're already playing footage on the news? It'll only be a mater of time until we find out that some dip-wad had a camera and took a picture."

Hotaru's eyes raised from the floor. "It's on the news already?"

Michiru nodded. "Yeah. See for yourself." Hotaru turned on the TV.

"... and luckily, Kanagu Mise has insurance, so it won't be a complete financial loss," one anchor was saying to the other. The other nodded and smiled her perfect smile.

"That's right, Yugi." She picked up a piece of paper from her desk. "And in other news, Those Mysterious Crime Fighters that call themselves Sailor Scouts must have been very busy today. Four were seen at a crime scene, pulling a Hysterical foreign girl from the house. While they disappeared before the Police could question them, the Police were able to gather that the girl, who's name is being withheld from the public at the time, was almost murdered by her brother. The elder boy apparently went insane, killing the rest of the family, and was going to kill the girl too, but the Scouts saved her." As the woman talked, the TV showed various shots of the Abyss household, with police tape around it.

Haruka snapped of the TV this time. "Looks like we weren't the only ones to have a busy afternoon. Were you part of that group?"

Michiru nodded. "And you should thank your lucky stars that you weren't. You wouldn't have believed the carnage. I'm going to have nightmares for months."

Suddenly, the phone began to ring. Haruka picked it up. "Moshi Moshi, Haruka speaking."

_"Haruka? This is Makoto. I was just talking to my creepy neighbors-"_

"The one's I'm supposed to be watching. Damn, I forgot all about that."

_"Yeah, those ones. Anyways, they mentioned that you and Sailor Saturn had been down town fighting a yoma. What happened?"_

"Well, first of all, the Shadow Warriors are calling their yoma 'Kagemusha', and second, yes we did have a run in. Saturn had a bit of an accident, but it's noting we can't handle."

_"Oh. Alright. I just wanted to make sure everything is alri-"_

"Oh, Makoto, could you hold on a second? I'm getting another call."

_"Sure."_

Haruka pressed a button on the phone. "Moshi moshi, Haruka speaking."

_"Haruka! What happened?! I was watching the news, and they said the Kanagu Mise was leveled! What happened?!"_ It was Minako.

"How'd you know that I was there, and not one of the others?" Haruka questioned, sitting down on the couch.

_"Please. You're the only one who would go to the Kanagu Mise."_

Haruka smiled to herself. "Right. Well, we had a little run in with a kagemusha-"

_"What's that?"_

"It's what the Shadow Warriors are calling their yoma. Anyways, we had a run in, and Saturn made a little mistake-"

_"Little? The entire building's been leveled!"_

"I know, I know." Haruka put a hand to her forehead. "Look. We've got it under control. Hotaru understands what she did, and she will be punished. So why don't you call up the others, and tell them 'Yes, Saturn and I were there' and 'Yes, the building was leveled' and 'Yes, it won't happen again'." Haruka looked at Hotaru as she said this. Hotaru lowered her eyes.

_".... Ok. I'll call the others. Bye!"_ Minako hung up.

Haruka pressed a button. "Makoto? You still there?"

_"Yeah."_

"That was Minako on the other line. She was just wondering the same thing you were. Why don't you help her call up the others, and tell them what's happened." Haruka suggested.

_"Ok, sure. Oh, and how's Michiru doing? She looked like she had a killer headache last I saw her."_

"I'll check on her. Talk to you later. Bye, Makoto."

_"Bye, Haruka."_

Haruka hung up the phone. "Hey, Michiru. You alright? Makoto was worried about you."

Michiru sat down on the couch next to the taller girl. "I'm fine, now." She planted a butterfly kiss on Haruka's nose. Then, more serious, she turned to Hotaru, who was trying to escape to her room, unnoticed. "Not so fast, young lady. We need to discuss your 'little accident' as Haruka keeps calling it."

Hotaru turned to face the music. "Michiru, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to destroy the entire building. Really!"

Michiru shook her head. "It's not that, Hotaru. While I'm disappointed in you for doing such a careless action, I'm also curious. It was always believed that Sailor Saturn could only use 'Death Reborn Revolution' to destroy the world in times of crisis, and doom. What made you think that you could control it like that? And how _did _you control it like that... If you want to look at something of that magnitude 'control.'"

'Well.... Setsuna told me that I could.... She said that if I practiced, I could control what I destroyed...." Hotaru said nervously. Tears formed at the corners of her eyes. "Haruka-papa... Michiru-mama.... I just want to be like the rest of the Scouts... I want to be able to use my attacks with out fear of.... You know, destroying the world. When Setsuna told me that I _could_ control it,  I was so happy. I just want to be like everyone else." The tears began to slide down her cheeks.

Michiru stood up, and hugged the violet haired child. "Oh, poor Hotaru... You poor poor child... Hotaru, you know that Haruka, Setsuna and I only want you to be happy. But you also must know that _you _are the most powerful Sailor Scout. And as much as Haruka and I want to be there to help you, it seams that Setsuna's the only one who can really tell you every thing you need to know. We want you to have a normal life, too. But as long as you hold such a great power, there will be times when we can't help."

Hotaru sobbed into Michiru's dress. "I know that.... Heaven help me I know.... But sometimes I just wish I had been swallowed up along with the Death Busters, instead of being reverted to a child...."    

Haruka stood up, and turned Hotaru to face her, as she kneeled down to be on level with the girl. "I don't ever want to hear those words again, do you understand me? You have been the best thing to ever happen to us, and I don't know what we would do without you. And not only are you our daughter, you are our leader. So don't ever, _ever_ say that again, do I make myself clear?!"

Hotaru sniffed, and smiled a tiny smile. "Yes, Haruka-papa."

Haruka smiled also. "Good." She wiped away Hotaru's tears with her thumb. "Feeling better?"

Hotaru nodded. "Yeah..."

"Good. Then I think it's time we discuss your punishment." Michiru said firmly. "I know it was an accident, but..."

"I understand, Michiru-mama. I made a big mistake today, and I'm going to get punished for it." Hotaru said, bowing her head.

"Exactly. Now. I think that being ground- meaning no TV, Telephone, Movie, computer, or going out privileges- for two weeks, plus increased chores and an early bed time will be sufficient." Hotaru groaned. "And don't groan, young lady. This is for your own good."

"You'll thank me for it later" Hotaru chorused along with Michiru, as she slunk off to her bedroom.

         Once Hotaru was gone, Haruka turned to Michiru. "She said that Setsuna told her to try controlling her attack on the next youma we encountered. Did Setsuna ever mention that she had said this to Hotaru to you?"

         Michiru shook her head. "No. We need to talk to her. She cannot be telling Hotaru things like that without consulting us…. Or at least warning us!"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Time passed slowly over the next two weeks. Azrielle Abyss was placed into therapy, and progressed very quickly. Ami's ankle healed in perfect condition, after Mamoru used his healing abilities to speed the recovery. There were only two other Kagemusha attacks, both of which were stopped very easily and quickly by the scouts.

On the first day of the third week, Bunny, Makoto, Minako, Ami, and Rei were at a shopping mall, when an announcement board caught Ami's attention.

"Hey, guys, look at this! The Lippezaner stallions are coming to perform!"

"The Lip-a-whos-ers?" Bunny questioned, as she went through her wallet, to see how much more money she had.

"The Lippezaners. They're a heard of the best-trained Stallions in the world! I've read all about them, and I've always wanted to see them!" Ami said, stars in her eyes.

"Yeah... Too bad they're all sold out..." Rei burst Ami's bubble, as she examined the poster. "See? Sold out."

Ami's shoulders slumped. "What? No...."

"Sorry, Ami. That's the breaks, I guess." Makoto said, placing a hand Ami's shoulder.

"Of course, you could always go over there, and win some tickets." Minako said, as she pointed across the mall, to a stand where a contest was going on.

"What?" Ami spun around to look. "I've got to get some tickets! I simply have to!" She raced across the way, and slammed her hands on the desk where two employees sat. "How much is it for a chance to win the tickets?!" She demanded.

"Ehh.... (Y)500..." The girl said, scooting her chair back a bit, nervous. Ami furiously dug into her purse, to see if she could find the coin... But to no success.

"No! I know I have it here somewhere!" She muttered, and dug deeper.

"Here, Ami. If it means that much to you." Ami was surprised when a hand appeared in front of her face, holding a (Y)500 coin. Looking up, she saw Bunny, smiling happily. "I'm sure you can win."

Ami took the coin, her smiling brightening the room. "Oh, thank you! Thank you Bunny!" She hugged her friend, then turned, and slapped the coin onto the table. "I want a chance to win the tickets!" She demanded, fire in her eyes.

"Ok.... Just, turn the crank... If the Blue marble comes out, you've won one ticket. If the red marble comes out, you've won two tickets. If the green marble comes out, you've won five tickets."

Ami nodded. "Right. Ok, come on green marble!" She said, and began to crank the handle, sending the container spinning.

Rei stared at the container. "Get ready to stop Ami.... Now!"

"Now?"

"NOW!" The psychic girl almost shouted. Ami stopped the crank, and a marble fell out. The five girls gathered around to see.... the red marble!

Bunny blinked. "Red? I thought you were going to go for the green one, so we could all go." She stated, confused.

Rei sighed. "I did have the green one, but Ami hesitated, so that one came out instead..."

Ami wasn't listening. "I won! I won! I won!" She shouted, excited. The guy employee picked up a large bell, and began to ring it.

"We have a winner! We have a winner! Miss, could I get your name, please?"

"My name is Ami! Ami Mizuno! I won! I won!" She began to jump up and down. "I'm going to see the Lippezaners! I won!"

"Yeah... But who are you going to take with?" Makoto questioned.

Ami stopped her celebration. "Um.... Gosh, I don't know.... I guess I do have an extra ticket, don't I?"

"Yeah, you do. So who are you going to take?" Minako asked, seeing Makoto's point.

Ami tilted her head, thinking. "Well.... I don't know... It wouldn't be fair to just take one of you, and leave the rest, would it?"

"Oh, don't worry about that, Ami. We don't care who you pick." Bunny said, still smiling. "Of course, it _was_ my (Y)500 that gave you the chance to win."

Rei then jumped in. "Yeah, but I was the one who helped her get the winning ball!"

"But I'm the one who spotted the contest in the first place!" Minako protested.           

"Well, if it hadn't been for me, she would have never even known the performance was sold out, and might not have been able to have gotten tickets!" Makoto frowned and crossed her arms.

"Guys, guys, calm down!" Ami waved her hands, blushing trying to catch her friends attention. "I think I know of a way that I can do this fairly!"

The four other girls leaned in. "Really? How?!"

"I won't take any of you." She said with a smile. "That way, none of you can feel left out, or more important, see?"

All four of them face faulted, Minako was the first to recover. "Well, if you won't take any of us, who are you going to take then?"

Ami placed a hand on her chin, and looked at the ceiling, thinking. "Well.... I could take my mom.... Or I could take Az!"

Rei raised an eyebrow. "Az? Are you sure she's ready for something like that... I mean.... You know...."

Ami nodded. "Yeah, I know... But it might do her good to get out, you know? I'll talk to her doctor."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Azrielle was sitting on the bed in the room that the hospital was renting her, shoulders slumped, looking at a picture of her family. Sighing to herself, she pushed it under her pillow, and went to look out the window.

Her family had never been perfect. Her parents had always been in a constant state of flux, getting separated, coming back together, and separating again. She and Karl had been tossed around in that for as long as she could remember.

Karl had never been a very good brother. He had always been mean and nasty and cruel. She could clearly remember when she was five, and he had taken her favorite pet goldfish out of the bowl, and dangled it out of her reach, while it suffocated to death. There had been other incidents like that, but she had never guessed that he had been into Satanic Worship, until...

Shaking her head, she tried to stand at the window, and just enjoy the view, but the same thought kept drifting back to her.

_You don't miss them._

That's not true. I do miss them.

_Not as much as you should. Your parents were never around anyway, so what's to miss right?_

Wrong. They are... were... my parents.

_Sure. And Karl. Karl was always mean. You don't miss his abuse, do you?_

But he was my brother!

_But you don't miss him. Any of them. You miss the old woman the least. She was dead anyway. Mentally, at least. And she was so OLD... She didn't have much time left._

Stop it...

_Just get on with your life already. So you don't miss them. Big deal. They wouldn't have missed you, ether._

"Ms. Abyss? You have a visitor." The orderly's voice came as a surprise, and Az spun around.

"Uh, Hi, Az. How's it going?" Ami asked, shyly, stepping around the large orderly, who remained in the doorway.

Az smiled brightly. "Ami! I'm so glad to see you. I've been so lonely!"

"Oh, well, I tried to get into see you earlier, but the Doctors said..."

Az shook her head. "The doctors are stupid. I'm almost better now, though. How are you?"

"I'm fine. Everyone's really worried about you. I brought some gifts." She held up a canvas bag.

"This is from Mamoru.... It's a music box... See?" She held up the small device, and turned the key, and it began to tinker out a tune. "And this is from me." She handed Az a snow globe. "I thought you might like it... It's got snow, and it plays "Walkin' in a Winter Wonder Land", and, you know, I thought they might remind you of.... Your friends."

Az took the snow globe, and shook it, sending the white particles within to storm on the tiny house inside. "Oh, Ami.... Thank you..."

"And, um, this last one is from Minako, Makoto Bunny and Rei." She held up the tickets. "It's tickets to the Lippezaners Stallions performance. They're hoping that you can come out for an evening with me, and enjoy the show."

Az's eyes lit up. "I'd love to come! I've been feeling so cramped up in here... I always prefer nature to being indoors." Suddenly, her smile dimmed. "But will the Doctors let me out?" She whirled around to face the orderly. "I want to speak to my Doctor right now!" She demanded. The orderly nodded, and left to find her doctor.

"Oh... Did you have to yell at him like that, Az?" Ami asked, slightly embarrassed for her friend.

"Yes, I did. Nobody here will listen to you, unless you practically scream it at them." She grumbled.

They waited for about a minute, talking on various subjects, before Az's doctor arrived. 

"I heard that you needed to talk to me?" He said, with a smile, as he entered.

"Yes. My friend Ami here wants to take me to see the Lippezaner show, and I need you to clear my pass out." Az explained

The doctor frowned. "I don't know, Azrielle. We still have a lot of ground to cover... What if you have a break down in the middle of the evening, and your friend can't reach a phone?"

"My mother's a doctor, and I'm studying to be one when I grow up. I've handled worse than a nervous break down before." Ami volunteered.

"And I'm positive that a change of scenery, and some fresh air would do me some good." Az reinforced their argument.

The doctor wavered. "Aren't you getting enough fresh air in the courtyard?" He questioned.

"Oh sure, but I prefer free fresh air, as apposed to penned fresh air." Az explained, a slight annoyance in her voice.

The doctor sighed, and thought about it for a moment. "I'm not sure...."

"Pleeeeeeeeeeeaasssseeeeeeee?" The two girls whined in unison.

Rolling his eyes up into his head with another sigh, the Doctor smiled. "Ok, fine. What the heck, right? If you think it'll help you."

"Oh, it will... It definitely will!" Az hugged her doctor, surprising him. "Oh, Thank you!"

Ami smiled. "The performance is tomorrow night, starting at six. I'll pick you up around five, then, ok?"

"Sounds good."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The evening was proceeding wonderfully. Haruka had insisted on driving the two girls, although she wouldn't say why (Ami was pretty sure she knew why, though). They had wonderful seats, and could see every jump, kick, leap and swish of the head or tail the beautiful horses made. The show was almost over, and the horses and their trainers were taking their bows. Az and Ami clapped and cheered wildly from the stands.

"Ami, I'm having the best time of my life! I'm so glad you invited me." Az exclaimed to Ami, as the horses were lead back to their stables.

Ami smiled, as they stood up. "Don't thank me, Thank Bunny and Minako, and Rei and Makoto. They're the ones who really made this possible."

"Well, then, I will. What a wonderful evening this has been!" Az stated, while they filed into the aisle of the stands. "Oh, look! One of the trainers is talking to people over the fence. Let's go see if we can get our two cents in!" Az exclaimed, as she pointed out a very handsome trainer, who was leaning against the fence.

"Yeah, sure, I'm game." The two made their way down, and by the time they arrived, most of the other people that had been talking to him had left.

"Hi, girls. Did you enjoy the show? My name's Ceen." The man asked, his foreign accent even thicker than Az's. He had sparkling blue eyes, and thick black hair cut to the nape of his neck. His chin was square, and he had dimples.

"Oh, definitely. I loved how your horses could do all those tricks, and they were just so beautiful!" Az exclaimed.

"How long does it take for you to train them?"

"Oh, well... It really depends on the horse. Some horses are just better than others." Ceen said, smiling. He had perfect teeth. 

_"He's so gorgeous! And none of the other girls are here to steal his attention!"_ Ami thought to herself, as she was overcome by his looks.

"Hey, I don't suppose that you two would be interested in coming back to the stables to get a first hand look at them. I don't normally do that, but you two seem nice enough." 

"Would we?!" Az and Ami chorused together.

Ceen smiled again. "Come right this way then." He lead them to a gate, and opened it for them. Then the three of them walked back to where the stables were. He unlocked and healed the door, allowing the two girls to enter before him. 

It was dark in the stables. Very dark. And quiet.

"Uh, Ceen? Why's it so dark in here? Where are the lights?" Ami called, into the darkness. She couldn't even see her hand in front of her face.

"Where'd you go?" Az called. Her hands were making a large circle, feeling the air like a blind person, when they bumped into Ami. "Oh, Ami, there you are. What's going on here? Where are the horses? And the trainers?"

"I'm over here, girls!" Ceen's voice suddenly echoed from the far end of the stables. "I want to show you our best horse. He's down here... Come on, just follow the sound of my voice!"

"Couldn't you, um, turn on the lights, or something?" Ami called, hesitantly.

"Naw. The horses need the dark after a performance to relax them. Come on, just listen to the sound of my voice, and aim for it. It's like playing Marco Polo. This way.... come on!" His handsome voice was filling the room.

Az grabbed on to Ami's arm. Her touch was icy cold. "Ami.... I don't like this... It doesn't feel right... Let's go, ok?"

"You're right. Ceen? We're going to leave now. It's scary in here, and we feel uncomfortable. Sorry." Ami called into the darkness. In the silence, her voice was thrown back at her, echoing off of a million surfaces.

"Oh, alright then. Think you can find the door?" His voice taunted.

"What do you mean? It's right here!" Az shouted back, as she flung her hand out to grab the handle..... And touched nothing but air. "What? It was right here! We haven't moved that much, have we, Ami?"

"No... Let me see if I can find it..." Ami began feeling the air, hoping to find anything, but touched nothing but air. Angry, she shouted, "Ceen, you let us out, right now!"

"I'll tell you what... No." He laughed. "Maybe if you can find me.... I'll turn on the lights... But this is much more fun."

"Az! Link arms with me. I don't want to get separated..." Ami murmured to the American girl. 

"Right." Ami felt Az's hand touch her shoulder, and then slide down to her elbow, where in she linked her arm. "There. Now... Let's get out of here!"

Both girls reached out, hoping to find something with their free arm. And while Ami's attempts remained fruitless, Az's did not.

"Ami! I think I found something!" Az directed Ami's hands to what she was touching. Whatever it was, it was warm... And breathing.

"I think it's a horse." Ami commented, as her hands explored along the creature's back. As she felt up to where the neck and head should be, she received a nasty surprise. 

Az heard her gasp. "What is it, Ami? What's wrong?"

"It... it... It's.... It's a....." She stammered, not believing what her hands were telling her.

"Congratulations, girls, you found me! So, as promised, I'll turn on the lights."

The room was flooded with light, temporally blinding the girls. As their eyes adjusted, both gasped, and took a step back. It was Ceen all right. But he was different.

"Surprised?" He arched an eyebrow, and smiled.

"You're a centaur!" Azrielle gasped.

Ceen smiled. "And the blond gets a cigar!" His head was the same as before, with the one exception of his ears, which were now pointed. His clothing was gone, so he was bare chested. At his waist, he blended into horse. That part of his body was powerful looking, and covered with red fur. His long black tail twitched. "I must say that you both fell for this trap marvelously. And the energy I'm going to take from you... Well... Master Leon will be most pleased with me."

"B-but what happened to all the real horses and trainers?" Ami stammered.

"All and illusion, made up by Copi. And all you foolish humans fell for it. Your kind is so gullible." He smirked, crossing his arms.

"Leon? Copi? Who are they? And what's this all about?!" Az demanded.

"Oh, well it's very simple, you see. My name's Ceen Tear, and I'm on a mission, from my Master, Leon, to collect energy, for his master and ruler. You two have some of the most fine looking energy I've seen in a very long time." He trotted up to Azrielle, leaning over to put a powerful arm around her shoulders. "Also, if I'm correct, my presence should flush out the Sailor Scouts. And when they show up, I will kill them. If they don't, I'll still get your energy, however, so it's a win-win situation for me."

"No! You can't do that!" Az shouted, trying to free herself from Ceen Tear. "The Sailor Scouts are good! They saved me before, and I won't let you hurt them!"

"Let her go, you jerk!" Ami beat her fists against the kagemusha's horse back. He turned to face her, not releasing Az, with an annoyed look on his face.

"Oh, do shut up." he flicked his hand so it was at a right angle from his arm, and released a wave of negative energy, that hit Ami square on. She flew through the air, and finally hit the ground, pain flooding her body.

"AMI!" Az screamed. Struggling against Ceen Tear's strength, she finally managed to loosen one arm, and she began to wave it frantically in the air, but not to get him away. Instead, ice crystals began to form and grow. Quickly, they became snowflakes, that began to swirl around her body.

"What's going on?!" Ceen Tear screamed, rearing up on his hind legs, releasing Az.

Ami took the moment that they were both distracted to contact the other scouts. "Everyone! A kagemusha's attacking, and I can't transform! Help! I'm in the stables!" She hurriedly sent the message, and the returned her attention to the battle, and trying to get up. Her body ached, and would rather stay still.

Az was still focusing, the snowflakes whirling. Suddenly, they left her, and began to circle that fell between Ami and Ceen Tear. Then they began to grow again, until they had turned into a small group of Bisetsu.

Ami gasped at seeing them again, and as she did, her breath was caught in her throat at the sudden drop in temperature.

Ceen Tear looked in amazement at the Bisetsu. "That explains why your energy is so strong. You're a witch!" He cried out, grinning.

"I am not!" Az shouted back. She staggered. Summoning this many Bisetsu was very draining, in the summer months. "Bisetsu, cover us!" she shouted, as she fell to her knees.

The ice men nodded, and chorused to one another as they formed a wall made of thick magical ice around Ami, and another around Az.

"You think this will stop me, witch?!" Ceen tear shouted. He reared up, and slammed his front hooves against Ami's wall, cracking it. The Bisetsu immediately repaired the crack.

Az gasped, inside her ice protection. She had never done anything like this before in her life... And it was taking quite a toll on her. She coughed, and looked out where Ceen Tear was smashing his hooves and fists repeatedly against Ami's wall. She couldn't keep this protection up much longer. The ice men slowly began to return to snowflakes, and dissolved away. As they did, Ami's Ice shield began to crack and break.

Ceen Tear laughed. "Ha! I told you that wouldn't work!" With one final kick, the ice shattered, and Ami was exposed.

"No! Ami!" Az screamed, as the last of her shield melted away with her Bisetsu. She ran, and threw her body in front of Ami, and received a kick in the chest from Ceen Tear's hooves for her efforts.

"Az... No, run away! Save yourself, I can handle it!" Ami pleaded, as she tried to stand.

Ceen Tear laughed out loud, his laugh echoing around them. "This is it, girlies."

"Hold it right there!" a voice suddenly echoed, as natural light cascaded into the room. Six silhouettes could be also be seen, posing in the doorway.

Sailor Mars stepped forward. "With the blessings of Mars, the planet of war, the Sailor Scout of fire; the Passionate Fighter, Sailor Mars!"

"With the Blessing of Pluto, the Planet of the Underworld, the Sailor Scout of Time; the Reformation Fighter, Sailor Pluto!" The tall green haired woman was standing farthest to the right.

"With the blessings of Neptune, the planet of the seas, the Sailor Scout of the depths; the Elegant Fighter, Sailor Neptune!" She stood next to Sailor Pluto.

"With the blessings of Uranus, the planet of wind, the Sailor Scout of the Heavens; The Magnificent Fighter, Sailor Uranus!" She held her Space Sword at a ready position, standing slightly in front of Sailor Neptune.

"For love and justice, a pretty solder in a sailor suit, Sailor Moon!" She stood fully in front of everyone else. Tuxedo mask stood behind her, saying nothing, but looking dashing. Luna was standing between Sailor Moon's legs, her fur standing on end. "We are the Sailor Scouts, and we shall punish you!" Sailor Moon finished.

"The only one who's going to get punished around here is _you_, Sailor Moon. Take a hike, before I decide to kill these two humans.

"I think not! You're out numbered, incase you couldn't tell." Sailor Uranus spoke up. "Give up, and Sailor Moon can purify you."

"Never!" Ceen Tear shouted. "And you idiots have walked right into my trap! Hell Stallions attack!" Out of the still dark corners came Hell Stallions, with jet-black fur, flaring nostrils, and blood red eyes. There were easily twenty of them. Ceen Tear smirked. "Now who's out numbered?" Ceen Tear trotted over to head his army of Hell Stallions. When he did, Tuxedo mask took the opportunity to leap to where Az and Ami were still on the ground. Luna leapt upon his shoulder, and came with.

"Ami! Azrielle! Are you two alright?" He questioned. 

"I'm fine... I just can't.. Move very well, that's all." Ami explained.

"Hell Stallions ATTACK!" Ceen Tear ordered the wild creatures, and they swarmed the scouts.

"Tuxedo mask, you've got to help them!" Ami cried out.

"No. Not until you and Azrielle are safe. How are you?" He asked Az, as she clutched her chest.

"He kicked me.... It hurts, but nothing's broken, I think." She gasped out.

"Here, let me help." Tuxedo Mask placed a hand on each of them, and began to heal them.

Meanwhile the battle was raging between the Hell Stallions and the Scouts.

"Dead.... Scream." Sailor Pluto silently commanded her attack to come forth, and aimed it at the nearest Hell Stallion. It bucked in pain, and turned to face her, nostrils flaring. It charged her, and as it did, Sailor Pluto scowled. "Get back to Hell!" She snarled, and bashed her staff down over the Hell Stallions skull, with a sickening crunch. The horse, distracted by the blow to the head, ran into a wall, and broke it's neck, and then disappeared in to a cloud of smoke. Sailor Pluto didn't notice. She was already busy with another Hell Stallion.

Sailors Neptune and Uranus were fighting back to back, playing off each other to confuse the five Hell Stallions that had surrounded them.

"Neptune! Lets take it UP a notch!" Sailor Uranus shouted, as Sailor Neptune used Uranus's laced hands a step, and shot into the air. Once in the air, she turned to face the ground.

"Deep Submerge!" She shouted, firing off the huge wave towards Sailor Uranus.

At the same time, Sailor Uranus fired off her own attack at Sailor Neptune. "World... Shaking!" The wave met the concentrated ball of manna half way between the scouts, and the water sprayed out, forming a perfect circle, spraying the Hell Stallions that surrounded the two, but completely missing Sailor Uranus. World Shaking dissolved as it fought against the on rush of the wave, and had disintegrated to nothing by the time it reached Sailor Neptune.

"Burning... Mandala!" Sailor Mars shouted, firing her attack directly at a Hell Stallion that was attacking Sailor Moon, who had been knocked over. It screamed in pain, and dissolved. Rushing over, Sailor Mars helped Sailor Moon up. "Are you alright?" 

"I'm fine! Let's keep going!" Sailor Moon said with a smile, as she brought out her scepter.

"Righ- Ah!" Sailor Mars went flying, as a Hell Stallion kicked her into a wall.

"Mars! No!" It was Sailor Moon's turn to rush over. As she did, she heard a scream of pain coming from one of the others. Turning, she saw that three Hell Stallions had ganged up on Sailor Pluto. Two of them were holding ether end of her staff, to prevent her from using it. She was hanging on to it, refusing to let go, and the third Hell Stallion was kicking her.

"Sailor Moon! Help!" Her attention was drawn by Sailor Neptune's cry. Sailor Uranus's sword was stuck in the ribs of a fallen Hell Stallion, and she couldn't pull it out. It was all Sailor Neptune could do to keep the rest of the Hell Stallions at bay.

"Moon... Spiral.... Heart.... ATTACK!" Sailor Moon finally managed to attack, aiming for the Hell Stallions that were harassing Sailors Neptune and Uranus. As she did, Sailor Uranus finally managed to pull her sword free, as the Hell Stallions finally died, disappearing in clouds of smoke.

Meanwhile, to the side of the battle, Tuxedo mask finally let his hand slide from Ami and Az, gasping. It was hard work to heal two people at once!

"Finished!" He gasped, opening his eyes to see his patients. When he did, his eyes grew large as he looked at Azrielle.

She was looking at her chest, where she had been kicked. "I feel better now than I have in a long time... Thank you, Tuxedo Mask!"

"L-l-l-luna! Ami!" Tuxedo Mask stuttered. "Look!" They did. And when they did, they both gaped.

Azrielle Abyss had a signal shining on her forehead.

Luna was the first to speak. "Titan!"

"What?" All three humans looked at her, confused.

Luna did a back flip. As she touched earth again, a strange looking Henshin appeared. It looked like a perfectly symmetrical snowflake, only with one crystal branch extended as a place to grab it. In the center of the snowflake was a treble clef. "Azrielle! Pick it up!" Luna commanded.

"What?" Az looked confused. This was the first time a cat had spoken directly to her, and had given her an order, even.

Ami snatched up the Henshin before it could get damaged. "Az! You're a Sailor Scout!"

"But I can't be!" Az protested.

"Trust me, you are." Ami reassured her, trying to force the Henshin into her tightly closed hands. "You've got to transform!"

"I don't know how!" She cried out.

"Speaking of transformation, Ami, I think they could use your help out there. You can transform freely, now that Az is a scout, too." Tuxedo Mask commented, as he raced out to join the battle.

"What was that all about?" Az asked frantically.

"I'm a Sailor Scout, too!" Ami said quickly. "Watch. This is how it's done." She stood up, and summoned her henshin to her hand. "Mercury Planet Power... Make UP!" 

Az watched in amazement as Ami's body was surrounded by water, light, bubbles and other various aquatic things. "S.... Sailor Mercury!?"

"That's right. Ami is Sailor Mercury. And _you_ are Sailor Titan. You've got to transform and help the others!" Luna explained quickly.

Sailor Mercury looked sadly at Az. "I wanted to tell you...." She said, and then ran into the fray. The scouts were winning again, but it was still anyone's call. There were still about seven Hell Stallions, and after that, they had Ceen Tear to deal with. 

"Az, if you don't fight, the fate of the world could be at stake. Please, transform!" Luna pleaded with the girl.

"But I already said, I don't know how!"

"Hold the henshin, and say the first thing that comes to your mind. It can be a bit mind boggling at first, but you can do it, I know you can!" Luna explained.

Az picked up the henshin, and stared at it, her face reading a wide range of emotions. Finally it hardened into determination. "For Ami... She helped me out, and now I've got to help her out." She stood up, and thrust the henshin directly into the air in front of her. Her face read blank for only a second before she shouted, "Season of Cold, Make UP!"

Snowflakes began to fall, as she drew a circle in the air with her henshin, creating a plate of see through ice. Spinning around to the left, she ended with arms at side, head up towards the sealing, as the ice cracked into a floury of snowflakes. Half of the snowflakes pressed on to her body, creating the main body for a fuku. The others became Bisetsu, which dressed her left and right arms and legs. As they finished tying her bows, they burst into snowflakes, and Sailor Titan posed, with her left arm pointing out.

After her transformation was complete, Sailor Titan looked down at herself, surprised. She was wearing the traditional Sailor Fuku. The bow on her chest, and the one on her back were both white, along with the trim of her uniform. The rest of the uniform was black. She was wearing knee high pointed boots, like Sailor Moon, or Sailor Mercury, and the jewel in her tiara and her choker were both black. Her gloves only reached up to her elbow, and she was still wearing her black musical note earrings.

Her only comment was, "Woah!"

"Ok, Sailor Titan, go help the others!" Luna instructed, jumping on the new Scout's shoulder. "I'll help you with your attacks!"

Sailor Titan nodded, and turned to face the battle. There were only five Hell Stallions left. One of them had cornered Sailor Mercury.

"Shine... Aqua... ILLUSION!" Mercury threw her arms out, spraying the Hell Stallion. It snorted and screamed, but managed to withstand the attack.

"Cat! How do I attack?" Sailor Titan desperately asked, turning her head to face Luna.

"My name's Luna, and...." Luna thought for a moment, trying to remember all she could about Sailor Titan, but her memory had so many holes! "Um, Try..."

"Play your Keyboard!" Both Luna and Sailor Titan turned to look at Sailor Pluto, who was using her Staff as a club and a sword, keeping a Hell Stallion away from Sailor Mars, who was down for the count. "Check your memory, and will your keyboard to come forth!" She shouted, as she almost connected with a Hell Stallion's head.

Sailor Titan nodded, and closed her eyes. Luna quickly jumped from her shoulder, not wanting to interfere with whatever it was that Sailor Titan was doing. Her arms, which were limp at her sides, suddenly raised into the air, her chin tilting up also, as if she was looking at the ceiling. She crossed her arms above her head, and then spread them wide again, and as she did, and arc of shimmering, ice blue light formed between her hands. She held it there for a moment, before bringing her arms back down, bringing the arc with them. When her hands reached waist level, the arc of light solidified into a keyboard, made of ice, which hovered directly in front of her. Opening her eyes, Az looked at the keyboard in surprise.

"I did that?!" She shouted.

"Right, now attack with it!" Luna commanded. "Use the same technique you used to summon the keyboard. Think back, and will an attack."

Titan bit her lip, nervous. Then she began her attack. As she crossed her arms across her chest, Egyptian style, with the right wrist over the left, she called out her attack.

"Note... Bombardation!"

 The keyboard began to glow, and her right hand flew out, and she began to play a rapid succession of notes, her left hand quickly following suit. The pattern was E flat, C E flat, G, C, E flat, D, C, B natural, G, B natural, D, G, F, E flat, D, E flat, C, E flat, G, C, E flat, D, C, D, C, B natural, A natural, G, F, E flat, D. Then it would repeat it self, moving quickly up the keyboard. She was playing 'Solfeggio in C Minor'. 

For every note she hit, a musical note would fly out of the keyboard, made of blue ice, and hover in the air for a moment, before soaring through the air, and striking the Hell Stallion that was attacking Ami. It literally _was_ a bombardation of musical notes. The Hell Stallion reared up, screaming in pain, trying to kick the notes out of the air, and he succeeded in knocking down a few, but most hit their target. It was only a moment before he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Even though the Hell Stallion that was attacking Sailor Mercury was gone, Sailor Titan continued to play. Notes whizzed through the air, surrounding the Hell Stallions, and successfully ridding the area of the remaining four. Only when they were gone, did she stop playing. Her Keyboard remained hovering in front of her.

There was silence in the room for a moment. Then, Ceen Tear, who had been watching the battle from a safe distance, shattered it. "I _don't_ believe it! Another Scout?!"

Sailor Titan's head snapped around to glare at Ceen Tear. "That's right. I'm Sailor Titan, Sailor Scout of Winter and Music. And in the name of the Great Mother, Gaea, and her Changing seasons, I'll freeze you over!"

Ceen Tear smirked. "I don't think so. You're new and inexperienced. So just you try it!" He reared up on his hind legs, and as he did, his tail grew to a great length, the hairs sneaking out, and grabbing Sailor Mercury and Tuxedo Mask, who were the closest. 

"Tuxedo Mask!" Sailor Moon cried out.

"Mercury!" Sailor Titan's eyes went wide. Then, a look of extreme anger came over her face. "Don't touch her! She's my friend!"

Ceen Tear laughed, as his tail constricted Sailor Mercury's and Tuxedo Mask's breath. "Or what?"

"Ahh!" Sailor Mercury clawed at her neck, trying to breath. Tuxedo mask's arms were pined to his side, and he was struggling to free himself.

"Or this!" Az darted across the room, her key board moving with her, dodging the hairs that Ceen Tear tried to grab her with, until she stood in front of him. Scowling, she reached up, and touched his chest. Upon the contact, Ice spread from her hand, freezing him in place. As the ice traveled down his chest, down his legs, he became stuck to the spot. 

Sailor Titan turned to Sailor Moon. "Quick! Get rid of him, Sailor Moon!"

Sailor Moon nodded. "Right." Lifting the Moon Scepter into the air, she waved it about, calling out her attack. "Moon... Spiral... Heart... ATTACK!" Sugar-pink hearts flew from her rod, and there was a moment of silence, before Ceen Tear was hit, dead on, and destroyed.

Sailor Mercury and Tuxedo Mask fell to the ground, gasping for air, but alive. 

"Titan," Sailor Moon turned, after helping Tuxedo Mask up, "we need to talk."


	5. Chapter Four

 "Azrielle," Setsuna addressed Az. 

Now, after the battle with Ceen Tear, the scouts had gathered in the outer senshi's apartment. The glass walls of the living room reflected the images of two cats, ten girls, and one tall, broad shouldered man. They sat in the over-stuffed couches and chairs in the center of the room. Artemis, whom had slipped across the floor because his paws couldn't grip the oak floors, had informed Minako, Makoto, and Hotaru of what had happened at the racetrack, as soon as he had heard it himself from Luna.

Soon after Ceen Tear had been destroyed, the building had begun to melt and dissolve away, the illusion ruined. So the girls had decided to go to the outer senshi's apartment, after Sailor Uranus offered the suggestion. There was a moment of confusion, as everyone demorphed, and Azrielle tried to absorb their secrete identities. 

"Azrielle," Setsuna said again, still gathering her thoughts, "you've been given an incredible gift. You're a Sailor Scout. A soldier in a war between the forces of love and justice versus the powers of darkness. It's a power and honor incomparable to any other. But, Azrielle, this isn't the first time you've had this power." The woman's black green hair flowed around her shoulders like a wrinkle in time.

"You mean, like reincarnation?" Az questioned, curious, her body leaning forward. Ami, who was sitting next to her on the couch, noticed again how Az's red striped hair compared to her eyes.

Setsuna let a smile tug at the corners of her mouth. "Somewhat like. Az, I'm going to show you something very important. But first I'm going to tell you about the Silver Millennium. It was a beautiful and prosperous time in which the queen of the universe, Queen Serenity, ruled with a kind hand. A hand and heart which controlled the power of the silver Imperium Crystal, the life force of the universe.

But some parallel universes envied the light of love that shown from our own universe. Some envied it so much that they wished to abolish the light. One such power was the Negaforce. During a celebration honoring the Queens daughter, Princess Serenity, and her first transformation into the Sailor Scout of Purity, Sailor Moon." Az looked over to Bunny, who was nestled up against Mamoru, and caught her shy smile and blush, "the Negaforce attacked. Their queen, a Nobel of Earth, with visions of grandeur, was called Beryl. Along her twisted path to power, she managed to mind wash the four generals of Earth, Zoycite, Kunzite, Malicite, and Jadite. They called their dark minions 'yoma', and using these yoma, they stormed through the palace of the Moon Kingdom, killing many.

"But recently, we've learned that the Negaforce was controlled by a higher power, called the Shadow Plain. A universe that housed beings such as Copi and Leon. The Shadow Plain also attacked many Scouts, but Queen Serenity, wishing to give the Sailor Scouts another chance, used the awesome power of the Silver Crystal to save the Silver Millennium by transporting it to the future. This unfortunately cost the Queen her life." Setsuna paused to think of what to say next. "The most powerful agent of the Shadow Plain was one of our own. The Anti-Sailor Nothingness, a completely darkened alter-ego of a beautiful scout called Sailor Sygnus, Sailor Scout of Black Holes. 

"And that brings us to our current mission: To find Sailor Sygnus before the Shadow Plain, or destroy them all. Now, Az, to show you something I promised earlier." Setsuna called to her hand her staff. "I will restore your memories of the Silver Millennium, but mostly importantly, of your final moments." Setsuna dropped the top of her fuchsia-glowing staff to the ground.

A bright light blinded Az's vision, and cleared to reveal a new world.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Princess Odetta stood in her black gown, its white gloves elegantly contrasting the central piece. She stood in a grand entryway with two other girls. One, with bright red hair wrapped in a tight bun atop her head, wore a green dress with yellow highlights. The other had short gray hair that shone silver, and wore an impatient look on her face. In her hand she held a long stemmed rose, with the flower not yet open.

The three girls looked about the entryway. Its crystal walls, door and trim shone with a joyous hue, as if to cry out in bliss. The red-bun girl spoke.

"Where is she?" she asked.

Odetta turned to 'Red-bun'. "It's not like her to be late." She commented, referring to a good friend of theirs, whom loved parties and dancing more than life it self.

"The ball wouldn't start without us. So we truly have nothing to worry about." The Rose girl said.

"Actually, you _do_ have something to worry about." A low voice called from ten feet behind Odetta. " Your lives." The three whirled around to see Leon, cat 'o' nine-tails stretched between his hands. His intent was obvious, and the girls automatically recognized him as an enemy, just by his poise.

"No, I think not." The Rose girl spoke. She seemed to hold a dominant role between the girls. "Love and Justice will prevail." She held her rose straight out in front of her. "Season of Birth, Make UP!" she cried.

"Season of Heat, Make UP!" 'Red-bun' called.

Princess Odetta held her hand straight in front of herself, calling her snowflake henshin to her hand. "Season of Cold, Make UP!" she ordered. 

Snowflakes began to fall and swirled about her, as she swung her arm in a circle, creating a circular wall of transparent ice. As she turned to the left, her head pointed up, and her arms at her sides, the ice began to break: first down the center, and then spreading out. It shattered into thousands of snowflakes. About half clung to Odetta's torso, creating the basic fuku piece. The others floated into several small groups, and grew into Bisetsu. The Bisetsu then created various parts of the fuku. The group on her left, with her left glove came to her as she outstretched the corresponding arm, and clad it. The others followed suit, dressing their mistress's right arm, and her legs. The beings then tied her bows, and burst back into snowflakes, Sailor Titan finishing by pointing her left arm out.

Each of the three Sailor Scouts called out their speeches, to which Leon laughed. "A wasted effort." He commented.

Sailor Titan and the Rose Sailor Scout looked to Sailor 'Red-bun', whose attack was in season.

Leon snorted, apparently not surprised by this. "We've studied you. I know your attacks, and what to expect. And I know _your_ attack," he said, speaking now only to Sailor 'Red-bun', "will kill me automatically."

"Well then, you're not as stupid as you look." Sailor 'Red-bun' tossed her head. "If you give up, I'll take you to the Queen, for purification."

"Uninterested." Leon simply refused. Then he tossed out four small objects. All three girls dropped into ready positions, until they saw what the objects were.

"You think we're scared of wooden dolls?" Sailor 'Rose' asked, looking down her nose at the four figurines, pointing her rose delicately at them.

"No. But that's of no consequence." Then, with out warning, he lashed out his whip, which had remained, for the most part, stretched between his hands for the entire conversation, and struck one of the figurines. "Kagemusha Kerokero, ATTACK!"

Upon being struck by the whip, the Kagemusha sprung to life, growing many times larger, and into a slightly humanoid body. 

"Kero-Kero!" She cried out, her long hind legs extending, as she leapt into the air. She was a frog-woman. Her long tongue flicked out for a moment, as she landed, in a squatting position, her shorter forearms touching the ground between her green-brown legs.

"Kerokero, her!" Leon pointed at Sailor 'Red-bun', who then wasted no time in beginning her attack.

"Season…." She cried, and twirled her arms around, "of…." Kerokero also wasted no time, lashing her tongue out. It circled Sailor 'Red-bun', pining her arms against her chest, and began to squeeze the breath out of her.

"Kagemusha Koumori, ATTACK!" Leon lashed another statuette, this one springing to life just as Kerokero had, only with a piercing scream, which caused the surrounding area to shake violently. She swooped to the ceiling, and hung by her clawed feet to it, as she was a bat-woman. She continued screeching, which effectively disabled Sailors Titan, and 'Rose', as they both clamped their hands over their ears.

The sound didn't seem to affect Leon, as he calmly called out another Kagemusha. "Kagemusha Nanori, ATTACK!" This one shot up from the ground in size, but he remained huddled close to the ground, his spiny back bristling with quills. He was an Echidna man. He lifted his head, and grinned evilly at the girls, before tucking it back again, and firing several quills directly into Sailor 'Red-bun'.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH-!" She screamed in pain, as the quills struck.

"NO!" Sailor 'Rose' yelled, trying to take her hands from her ears.

"Kagemusha Sangai, Attack!" A huge, brutish rhinoceros man sprouted up from the floor, his main horn gleaming wickedly. He snorted, and charged Sailor 'Red-bun'.

"Nooo!" She screamed in protest, a moment before she was hit, straight on.

"_Proserpina!"_ Titan screamed, as her comrade fell forward in Kerokero's hold, dripping red. "_No_!"

Kerokero withdrew her long tongue, as Koumori stopped her screaming. The two remaining scouts straightened up, as the third fell to the ground, more than likely dead. Sailor 'Rose' glared at Leon, tears in the corners of her eyes. "No," she whispered. "Stop this, now."

Leon sneered. "Her!" He pointed at Sailor 'Rose'. Kerokero leapt up, lashing out her tongue as she had before.

"Ha!" Sailor Rose jammed the point of the rose steam into the frog-woman's tongue. As she did, a bright light flowed from the imbedded rose, into Kerokero's body. Her eyes went wide, and she quickly withdrew her tongue, but it was too late. Before she could udder a word, she exploded in to a large amount of sparkling dust, which was quickly born away on the wind, leaving behind the original wooden statuette, with a crack down the center.

"Kerokero, no!" Leon shouted, frustrated. He turned to the remaining three. "All of you, attack, now!" He ordered, lashing out his whip at them.

"Kyaaaaa!" Koumori shouted a war cry, as she dived from the ceiling, towards Sailor 'Rose', only to have the business end of the rose imbedded into her stomach. She looked at Sailor 'Rose', surprised. "Wha-?" she started to ask, before she exploded, in the same fashion as Kerokero.

"You can fend off face to face attacks, but how about this?" Nanori questioned, his voice high and shrill. He curled into a ball, and shot a barrage of quills at her.

Sailor Titan quickly called forth her keyboard. "Note… BOMBARDATION!" She began playing the song she had wrote for the princesses inauguration, the frozen notes slamming head onto the quills, literally freezing them in their trails. They fell to the floor, and shattered.

Meanwhile, Sailor 'Rose' had taken the opportunity to try and sneak up on Nanori, but, at the last possible moment, he spring away, surprisingly agile for his proportions.

"Thought you could get the jump on me, eh? I think not!" He laughed, the sound as pointed as his quills. Curling up into a ball, he rolled towards Sailor 'Rose' incredibly fast.

"You like to prick things? _So do I_!" The short haired scout shouted, as she leapt into the air, over his attack, slamming her rose into him, as the soft part of his body rolled towards the sky.

"Aggaaaaaaakk!" He screamed, and exploded.

She then turned to Sangai. "Just try it."

He smiled, revealing several pointed, brown teeth. "I will." He charged her, fast, for his large bulk. Sailor 'Rose' leapt out of his path at the last moment, like a matador dodging a bull.

He slammed the wall, causing the walls to shake, and crack. Small portions of the sealing fell. He backed out of the wall, and turned around, uninjured by his collision. "That was practice. This time for real." His voce was low and sounded like millions of feet on gravel.

Sailor 'Rose' just scowled, and was about to say something back, when Sangai lowered his head, and charged again, much faster than before. 

Faster than seamed possible, he stuck his ivory horn into her right side, under her arm. Sailor 'Rose' gasped in pain, her eyes wide. A flow of blood ran from the wound, collecting on the floor.

It was then that Titan realized that the blood didn't come just from the scout. Instead, a great deal was coming from Sangai. Sailor 'Rose' had imbedded her rose up to the bud into the back of head. Both scout and kagemusha's eyes went blank, as they collapsed to the floor. Sangai disappeared in an explosion of dust.

Titan simply gaped, unable to speak. Finally, she found her voice. "Maia…" she whispered. She could now hear screams of panic and pain issuing from other parts of the palace. And she knew she was the next to die.

"An odd turn of events." Leon commented. "A single scout destroying four of my kagemusha in one battle. I expected all four of you to die, because of them. Oh, well. Three is better than none, I suppose. I'll simply do it myself."

"Why…?! Why do you do this?" Sailor Titan asked desperately through a stream of tears.

"You know!" He snapped back, vicious.

"No, I don't! Please, tell me!" Titan begged. "I can help you!"

"It's impossible to help, and even if you could, I wouldn't want _your_ help." He said. "I've had enough of this. Ringleader's Lashing!" he called, as threw his cat 'o' nine-tails at Sailor Titan.

Snow began to fall, as, now that two of her three friends and partners were dead, she held the dominant position, and her emotions caused the area around her to react.

"Note…." She began her attack, crossing her arms across her chest. Then she heard an Earth shattering crack. Looking down she saw her keyboard, falling to the floor, shattered by Leon's attack.

She gasped, her eyes wide. Tears that were sliding down her cheeks froze, and broke away, shattering on the floor.

Leon laughed, a sound like a lion and a hyena. "Ringleader's Lashing!" he repeated, as he lashed her with his whip. She tried to defend herself, but without her keyboard, it was a losing battle. 

She fell to the ground, woozy from blood loss. Even then, he didn't stop. She screamed in pain, the corners of her vision going blurry.

From this position, she saw somebody behind Leon. A man, probably a knight. His long sword was moving almost too fast to see. Leon noticed him too. Unfortunately, he didn't seem to notice either Titan or Leon. Grinning, his canine teeth very apparent, Leon took the opportunity to attack the Knight from behind.

Titan tried to shout a warning, but when she did, her mouth filled up with blood, and her lungs hurt. Then, a bright light filled her vision….

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The light faded to reveal the outer senshi's apartment. Az was obviously disturbed by what she had just seen, gaping. Then she turned to Setsuna. "How long ago was that?" 

The guardian of time smiled one of her melancholy smiles that only she and Hotaru had perfected. "Longer than you can possibly imagine."

Az was quiet for a moment. "I didn't stand a chance." She finally reported to the rest of the group.

Setsuna sighed, sitting down in her favorite chair. "It unfortunately appears that none of us did. We were not prepared for an attack."

Az shook her head, frowning. "So… Let me see if I have this correct. Everyone in this room was alive about a zillion years ago, but then, we all died. And now we've all been reborn." She looked around the room. "You people are what you call the 'inner senshi'. Sailors Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter. You are what's called the 'outer senshi'. Sailors Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. You're Tuxedo Mask, and your cats are advisors." Az looked at the corresponding person, as she named them.

Setsuna nodded. "Correct."

"I have a stupid question." Az said, looking slightly embarrassed. "I think it's because my mind is slightly overloaded, so it's grasping on to the only reasonably logical thing it can."

"Shoot." Haruka said, with a nod.

"Ok, it's actually two questions. First of all, why is Sailor Jupiter part of the inner senshi? The _planet_ Jupiter-"

"Is in the 'outer' part of our solar system." Makoto finished for her. "I know. I've pondered that question myself. And after a bit of memory searching, with Ami and Setsuna's help, I think I've finally figured out that, during the Silver Millennium, the asteroid belt wasn't present. It formed in its current position some time after or during the attack. During that era, Jupiter was considered part of the 'inner' solar system."

Az nodded. "Alright. But then, why isn't their a Sailor Earth then?"

Rei laughed. "There is! Only his name's Sailor Terra. He's my cousin."

Az's eyebrow raised. " 'His'? 'He'?"

Rei smiled. "It's a very long story. We'll tell it to you some time. As to your question, Sailor Terra _is_ part of the inner senshi, but he doesn't like this entire 'sailor business' as he puts it."

Haruka snorted. "I think the mini skirt has a great deal to do with that…"

Rei nodded. "Right. So he stays out of our way, only offering his help when we ask it, or when the princess is in danger."

Az nodded, understanding, a thoughtful expression on the intelligent girls face. "So… Are there any other Scouts? Besides us?"

A large collective blank was drawn. Then everyone looked towards Setsuna, who suddenly looked a bit flustered.

She stood, smoothing her skirt out. "Well would you look at the time." She commented. "I think this meeting has drawn out long enough." With that, she disappeared, absorbing herself into the time-space continuum.

Haruka sighed, and stood, stretching her back. "That's her way of saying 'don't butt in'. I guess that's it then." She held an outstretched hand to the tall American girl. "Welcome to the group. I suppose I owe you an apology."

Azrielle accepted the hand, and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. "What for?"

Haruka blushed ever so slightly. "Before today, I thought you were the enemy. You have an unusually strong energy. Energy like yours usually belongs to an enemy. Or a scout. But I wasn't thinking there were any other scouts, so…" She put a hand behind her head.

Az smiled. "Apology accepted. I probably would have been the same way, had I been in your place."

Bunny then stood, joining the conversation. "So what were you memories of, Az?" she chirped.

Az frowned, trying to recall all the details. "I was waiting for a…. Friend… to show up, so we could go to the ball. But before she arrived, a shadow warrior showed up…. Leon… He killed my friends… They were scouts too…. But I can't remember their names… Their faces are fuzzy too." She shook her head. "Anyways, he killed the other two first, then me. Right before I died, a knight entered. I think Leon killed him too."

Ami placed a hand on Az's shoulder. "It has not been a good time for you as of late..."

Az's smile was angry. "Of course. Any one associated with me dies."

Hotaru stood. "You think you have it bad?" She raised an eyebrow. "Try being the Scout of Death!"

This helped break the tension, as a light laughter flitted through the room. "Still," continued Az, "I _would_ like a chance to get back at him... Leon, I mean. I'm positive I'm stronger now than I was."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Michiru lay in bed, reading, when she heard the front door open and shut. It was late, when the meeting had finally broken up, and as everyone was leaving, Haruka had insisted on driving Az and Ami to their respective places of stay. After a moment, Haruka entered their bedroom, pulling off her shirt as she walked. 

"How did Az seem?" Michiru questioned, putting her book aside, as Haruka continued to undress.

"Stunned, mostly. Which is understandable... The head Doctor at the institute wasn't happy about the fact that I was bringing her home so late, but I made up some story about getting a flat tire, and he seamed to accept it..." She stopped speaking as she pulled her nightshirt over her head.

Michiru nodded, picking up her book again. Soon, Haruka crawled under the covers with her, and kissed her gently on the side of her face. "Good night, Michiru."

"Sleep well, Haruka." Michiru responded. "I'm going to finish this chapter, then I'll turn the light out."

"Sure." Haruka rolled over so that she was facing away from the light, but she didn't fall asleep. 

After about fifteen minutes, Michiru spoke again, without putting her book down. "Haruka, what are you thinking?"

Haruka smiled to herself. She should have known that Michiru would be able to tell when she was planning something. "Nothing... I just want to help Az destroy Leon."

"We _all_ want to destroy Leon... And the rest of them, too." Michiru pointed out.

"Yeah..." she rolled back over again, so that she was facing Michiru, "But Az has a personal grudge... And I feel like I owe it to her."

"Because you though she was a yoma?"

"Yeah..."

"So how do you propose that we find him? I mean, if it was easy, don't you think we would have found him by now?" Michiru put her book aside again, looking into Haruka's eyes.

"I'll think of something... I'm positive..." Haruka yawned, and kissed Michiru again, this time on the lips. "G'night, Michiru."

Michiru smiled, and turned the light off. "Good night, Haruka."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

         Haruka was walking through Tokyo. It was a bright, beautiful afternoon, but it seamed the entire city was deserted. 

"Hello? Michiru? Hotaru-chan? Setsuna?" She called out, her voice echoing off the large buildings. "Anybody?"

There was a sudden rumbling, and Haruka spun around, lowering into a defensive stance. She straightened up, her mouth slightly open when she saw what it was. Ice was springing up from the ground, and incasing a single building. It continued to rise and rise, a cold breeze blowing outwards from it, as Haruka watched silently. Once the entire building was covered, a single column of ice shot up, and formed a question mark.

Haruka frowned. "What the hell...?" she murmured to herself, looking away from the glistening punctuation, Haruka's gaze was caught by the words painted on the outside of the building. They were fogged and blurry due to the ice, but after a bit Haruka was able to make them out. 

"That's it!" She exclaimed, excited, as an epiphany hit her full force. "Why didn't I think of it before?!"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Haruka! Haruka wake up!" Michiru shook her lover, who awoke with a shout.

"Why didn't I think of it before?!" She shouted, her eyes wide.

"Haruka, you were dreaming!" Michiru declared, placing a hand on Haruka's shoulder. "You were making strange noises, and you kept thrashing about."

Haruka turned to face the marine haired woman. "No, you don't get it! _I know how to lure Leon out of hiding!_"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Are you sure this will work, Uranus?" Sailor Saturn questioned, her staff resting on the ground, and the wind whipping through her hair.

"Of course it will. Rei is always talking about how dreams tell you what to do... I know this will work."

"I don't know... I don't like revealing ourselves like this, to the general public. We're supposed to be more of an urban legend, or some such." Sailor Neptune sided with Saturn.

"I don't think it will hurt to try at least." Sailor Pluto spoke up, causing the other three to jump slightly. She had just exited the time plain directly behind the three.

"Don't _do_ that, Pluto!" Uranus snapped, placing a hand over her heart.

"If I could think of some way to warn people when I was exiting the time plain, I would." Pluto said with a smile, as she rested her staff in the same manner of Saturn.

"Regardless, we should hurry. I don't like Saturn missing school." Neptune said, with a disdainful look at Uranus.

The four of them were standing on the roof of a very tall building... A building that neighbored a building that looked exactly like the one in Haruka's dream.

"Right... You have the phone?" 

Saturn nodded. "I bought it on my way to school today, just like you told me to." She handed over a small, red cell phone.

"And I bought the service under an assumed name, just like you wanted _me_ to." Michiru said. "I activated the phone when I picked Saturn up this afternoon."

Uranus nodded. "I presume that _you_ know what's going on?" she asked Pluto, who nodded with a knowing smile. "Right... Then let's do this."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Taru Shiwaki was sitting at his desk, inside is cubicle, typing busily at his computer, when the phone rang. He picked it up with one hand, and continued typing with the other. "Moshi moshi, Japan Times, Shiwaki Taru here."

_"Yeah, I'd like to place an add._" The low voice on the other end spoke.

Taru aloud a small frown to crease his brow. "Sorry, sir, but you reached the wrong department. I can redirect you if you want."

_"No, I don't think so... Want to hear me out before you transfer me?"_ The voice sounded like it was smiling. _"I guarantee that you'll be kicking yourself if you let this opportunity get past you."_

Taru knew that he should know better by now, being the hardened journalist he was. But the something at the back of his head was tingling, something that always happened when he was about to trip over a big story.

He stopped typing, and pulled out a pad of paper and a pen. "Ok, then, I'm all ears."

"_Great... Now let's see. I want to place an add, as I said. Here's what I want it to say:_" The voice cleared its throat. "_'Hey, Leon. We're all sick and tired of pussy-footing around. We want to settle this right here, and now. We know that you want to get rid of us, so let's get this over with. Sailor Titan really wants-_"

"Woah, woah!" Taru stopped writing suddenly. "Did you just say 'Sailor Titan'?!"

"_Hold your horses, Shiwaki-san, and let me finish. Where did I leave off?_"

"'...Let's get this over with. Sailor Titan really wants'," Taru read back the last bit of what he had on his note pad.

"_Right. Continuing: 'Sailor Titan really wants a rematch. So unless you're to chicken to come out and fight face to face, we will see you at a place of your choosing, the same day as the publication date of the issue of the Japan Times you respond in. Respond via this paper. Love, the Sailor Scouts'._"__

Taru slammed his pencil down. "What kind of a prank call is this?" he demanded into the phone, angrily. "You sound old enough to old better! Who the hell is this?"

The voice on the phone chortled. "_I'll answer those questions in order. Number one, this isn't a prank call. Number two, I am old enough to know better, but because it's not a prank call, it doesn't matter. Number three, this is Sailor Uranus."_

"Like hell it is!" he snapped angrily. "You really aught to be ashamed of yourself, you know. You your self said you're old enough to know better-" He was cut off.

"_Don't believe me? Look out your window._" He did, half reluctantly. And then he dropped the phone. Almost level to him, on the roof of the neighboring building, he could see Sailor Pluto, Sailor Saturn, Sailor Neptune, and Sailor Uranus, holding a small, red, cell phone. All four smiled, cocked their heads to one side, and waved.

Scrambling for his phone, he quickly brought it back to his ear. But as soon as he had the device back in his hands, he couldn't think of a single thing to say.

Luckily, Sailor Uranus could. "_Would you mind not doing that again? It bangs in my ear._" He could see her talking into the phone on the building only a stones throw away, as her voice sounded in his ear.

"Uh, no problem..." Taru gasped, as he went frantically through his desk, trying to find his camera. He probably would have had more luck if he had been looking for it too, but he refused to take his eyes from the four scouts, as they had a habit of disappearing when people looked away. Sailor Neptune raised an eyebrow at him, and turned to say something to Sailor Uranus, who nodded in response.

"_Neptune wants to know what you're doing. From here it looks like your desk is attempting to eat you._" He could see Sailor Saturn giggle when she said this.

"Uhh..." Taru hesitated, as he was sure that they wouldn't stay around if he told them what he was really doing. "I'm uh, looking for another pencil.... The tip of the one I was using broke."

"_Really?_" Sailor Uranus asked, doubtfully, but the smile remaining on her face and in her voice. He saw Sailor Neptune tap Sailor Uranus on the shoulder, and show her a mirror. "_Ah... I see..._" She said, apparently to Sailor Neptune. "_Excuse me, Shiwaki-san. We have to discuss something. I'll call right back._" There was a click in his ear, followed by a buzzing, as Sailor Uranus hung up on him.  The four grouped together, apparently discussing something. Taru never took his eyes from them as they did, still searching for his camera... He could see prizes, and awards for excellence, raises and promotions... If only he could find his camera! The four broke apart suddenly, and Taru's phone began ringing again, as Sailor Uranus held the small cellular to her ear. Taru pounced on it, quickly. "Yes?"

"_Here's the deal. We will allow you to take one picture of us-_" His shock must have shown on his face as Sailor Uranus laughed. "_Yes we know that's what you're looking for. As I was saying, you can take one picture of us, but it has to be slightly out of focus. And you can ask each of us almost any one question you want. Of course there are some questions we wont answer, but I trust you to be intelligent enough to tell what questions you can safely ask. And we will know if you focus the camera... The same way we knew that's what you were looking. You focus, and we're out of here. Oh, and no recording our voices, ether._"

"Sure... Uh, can I trust you to stay put while I _find_ my camera?" Taru nervously asked.         

Sailor Uranus laughed. "_Sure. We wont go anywhere._"

Taru placed the phone gently down, heading Sailor Uranus's early complaint about banging in her ear, and quickly dove into his desk. After a few moments of frantic searching, he found it, and picked the phone back up. "I found it!"

"_Great. Any particular pose you want us in?_" 

"Uh... How about one of those famous entry poses everyone's always talking about?" 

"_No problem... Uh, I have to put the phone down then..._"

"Sure, sure... I don't mind! I'm going to un-focus the camera now..." He placed the phone down again, and then looked through his viewfinder, carefully un-focusing it. When he lifted his head again to look out the window. He saw that Sailor Uranus now held a very impressive sword above her head, that almost looked liked it was made of light. She and Sailor Neptune were standing back to back, and Sailor Neptune's hands were both wrapped around the handle of her mirror. To ether side of them were Sailor Pluto, and Sailor Saturn, the two contrasting each other in almost every way possible. Sailor Saturn held her Scythe slightly forward, in an aggressive pose, while Sailor Pluto held her staff gently in one hand, away from her body, the end resting on the ground. The end result was very eye pleasing. 

He gave them a thumbs up signal, and held up his camera. Sailor Neptune nodded slightly, a motion he took as an 'ok to go.'

He held up the camera to his eye. The camera was off focused enough that you couldn't make out their faces. He was tempted to take two pictures instead of one, but decided not to push his luck, and pressed the button only once. Then he placed the camera aside, and snatched up a pencil, his note pad, and the phone receiver.

"Sailor Uranus?"

"_Yeah?_"

"Was that ok?" He noted that her sword had disappeared.

"_Yeah._"

"Ok... So I get four questions now? One each?"

"_Yeah._" Taru noted that, when she didn't have something to say, Sailor Uranus wasn't very talkative.

"Ok, so... Um, geeze..." he wracked his brain, trying to think of a question that he knew Sailor Uranus would answer. "Um... Who's this 'Sailor Titan' you mentioned in your add?"

"_She's the newest member of the Sailor Scouts. To tell the truth, we weren't really expecting her to exist, so when she awoke, it was a bit of a shock for all of us._"

Taru quickly wrote down what she said, abandoning his short hand to write her response word for word. "Alright... Could I talk to Sailor... Neptune next?" he watched through his window as the phone was handed over.

"_This is Neptune._" Her voice was light and almost airy, but definitely had an edge of incredible intelligence behind it.

"Hi Sailor Neptune. Ok.... My question for you is what is that mirror for?"

"_This is my Submarine Mirror. I use it not only for attacks, but it also allows me to see... things... in it. It's almost like a crystal ball._" She replied, holding the mirror up, so that Taru could see it better.

"Is that how you knew I was looking for a camera?"

"_That's more than one question, but yes, it is. This mirror is very useful and very special to me._"

"Ahh... Alright then... How about Sailor Saturn, next?"

The phone was passed to the purpled haired scout. "_Hi._"

"Hi. Ok, Sailor Saturn, how old are you?"

"_I'm... Well, you can say I'm ten. But it's not a good idea to judge Sailor Scouts by age. Sailor Chibbi-Moon is over 900 years old, but she looks like she's still nine! And Pluto is way, way, super old, but she looks like she's about 26._" Sailor Pluto blushed at being called 'way, way super old.'"_What you really want to go by is mental ability, and looks._"

"Ah... That's interesting... But I don't think you should be calling people 'way, way, super old' when they're in ear shot, Sailor Saturn." Taru mock-scolded. Saturn laughed.

"_She doesn't mind. She knows she's old. Like I said, the numbers of years, centuries, millenniums, epochs, whatever, they don't matter. What matters is how you feel. I'm actually ether five, or twenty, depending on when you think I started my life. I have a weird growth rate in this life. But that's a long story._" Taru noted that Sailor Saturn talked a lot more than the older two he had talked to. She sounded like a very educated, intelligent ten-year-old. He would have liked to ask her about her weird growth rate, but he knew that even if she wanted to answer, one of the older Scouts present would stop her.

"Thanks, Sailor Saturn. Could you put Sailor Pluto on, please?" The phone was given to the tall, olive skinned woman.

"_This is Sailor Pluto._" Her voice was low, but not as low as Sailor Uranus's. 

"Hello, Sailor Pluto. Ah, perhaps you could tell me why no one else in the office appears to notice you?" He had suddenly noticed that not a single person in the office seamed even remotely interested in the views out their windows.

"_Ah. Well, first of all, it's lunch break, so most people aren't in their offices. But I suspect that the answer you're looking for is more... magical. You see, Sailor Scouts have a... an aura, if you will, that protects people from seeing us for who we really are. That same aura makes human eyes slide over us with out noticing us, when we want it to. Of course, there are exceptions to this; a specific type of second sight will enable a human to see through our disguises, and who we really are, if they've met us before. _"

"Who you really are?" Taru quoted.

"_Yes. It's quite possible that you've seen us every single day for three years, but you still wouldn't recognize us, unless you had the before mentioned second sight. Or if you saw us transform. But of course, that would never happen._" It was obvious that she wasn't going to say any more, so Taru dropped it. "_I'm putting Uranus back on."_

"Ok. Thank you for your time, Sailor Pluto." He was surprised to hear the scout laugh.

"_My dear Shiwaki-san, I have nothing but time to give!_"

"_So, our add will be placed correct?_" Sailor Uranus was back on the line.

"Of course. How large of an add do you want? And how long do you want it to run?"

"_One quarter of a page, and only one day._"

Taru made a note. Then a thought struck him. "Ah, not to be a bother, but how do plan on paying for this add?"

"Excuse me, Shiwaki-san?" The mail delivery girl pocked her head into his cubicle.

"Can you hold for a moment?" Taru asked the scout.

"_I already told you we're not going anywhere._"

 "Your mail's here." She handed him a stack of letters, and on top was an important looking vanilla envelope, that had the thickness of a child's chapter book.

"Thanks." He shooed the girl away, as he flipped over the envelope to see the address. It was stamped with four symbols, and after a bit of memory searching, he recognized them as the symbols of the planets Saturn, Neptune, Uranus and Pluto. He opened it, and several bundles of (Y) 10,000 notes fell out into his hand, and, by the feel of it, there were more inside. He snatched up the receiver. "This is too much!"

"_Some of that's to pay for our add. Some of it's to pay for Leon's response, since you can bet he won't be paying you. The rest is a personal thank you._" Sailor Uranus said, apparently unaware that Taru was holding more money in his hand at that moment than he had ever even seen at a single instant. "_We have good funds, and money doesn't mean much to us. Now... I can already guess that you're going to do a story on us, so my only request is that it better be on the front page!_"

"Of course! I really must thank you again..." He bowed deeply to the four scouts through his window, while holding the phone to his ear. "You have no idea what this is going to do for me!"

"_Hey Shiwaki-san?_" Came Sailor Uranus's voice over the phone. "_We're already gone."_ Then the familiar buzz of a connected line. He came out of his bow quickly, and indeed, the four scouts were gone, as if they had never been there.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Leon was trying to carve a new figurine of a vicious looking bird of pray when he heard a yelp come from Copi. Sighing angrily, but not looking up from his work, he called out. "What's happened?"

"Look at this!" She shrieked. She was in the living room of the Jingujis. Grumbling to himself, he stood, stretched, and slipped into his human form to see what his reluctant partner was screaming over.

"What do you want, woman? I'm a bit busy, you know." He growled, careful not to raise his voice to a level where the neighbors might hear.

"Look!" She simply commanded, and shoved the latest edition of the _Japan Times_. He snatched it away from her, and unfolded it to his liking, and began to read the front page.

**Sailor Scouts Challenge Evil!**

By Taru Shiwaki

         There was a slightly fuzzy picture to the right of four scouts (Leon instantly recognized them as Pluto, Neptune, Uranus and Saturn) standing on a roof. He frowned, and began to skim the article until he saw something that caught his eye.

         "Sailor Titan?" He muttered, as the article rambled about the appearance of the new scout no one had seen yet. "That pathetic princess of the seasons that I killed in the Silver Millennium?" He continued to skim, until another paragraph caught his attention.

         "... the issued challenge can be found in section E, page 5." He quickly switched his section for the one mentioned, and flipped to page five, and quickly found the quarter page add.

         "Hey, Leon. We're all sick an tired of pussy footing around." he read aloud,  "We want to settle this right here, and now. We know that you want to get rid of us, so let's get this over with. Sailor Titan really wants a rematch. So unless you're to chicken to come out and fight face to face, we will see you at a place of your choosing, the same day as the publication date of the issue of the Japan Times you respond in. Respond via this paper. Love, the Sailor Scouts."

         Copi, who was in disguise as Coco, smiled sweetly. "Well would you look at that... How cute: they want a fight."

         Leon scowled at her, but a smile still slid on his face. "Well, if that's what they want.. Who am I to refuse, then?"

         Coco raised an eyebrow. "You're going to do it? It's obviously a trap. And it sounds like they have a new ally... This Titan scout... She might be trouble."

         Leon laughed. "Oh please. I've killed her before, I can do it again. And besides that, _I_ get to chose the place..." He laughed again. "How stupid! They're literally handing me the best opportunity to get rid of them all!"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

         Az was sitting in the common room at the hospital, picking at her breakfast, as she half listened to the TV, which was playing in the corner behind her.

         _"Sooo... You're a scout now, Az. How do you like that? And Ami's one too... Mercury!"_ She had not slept well... Strange dreams kept waking her up all night. _"I suppose that's because of the memories.... I'm Sailor Titan.... I'm a princess!"_ Sighing, she pushed her breakfast away. She obviously wasn't going to hungry for a while. _"I was so weak! He defeated me just like that..."_ She scowled. _"I hate that! I'm sick and tired of being pushed around because I'm weak... I'm not! I'm just... nice... That's all..."_

         "....Sailor Titan..."

         Az's head snapped up and around when she heard her name come from behind her. Seeing no one, she looked up at the TV, surprised to see a blurry photo of the outer senshi being shown on the Television.

         "... asked to comment, Shiwaki-san declined comment, saying that everything anyone wanted to know about this new scout, Titan, and her opponent, Leon, who is suspected to be behind the recent yoma attacks, could be found by buying a copy of the Japan Times."

         Az gaped at the TV. Where had they gotten that information? She sure as hell hadn't said anything! She rushed off to find a phone, to call Ami.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

         Bunny was staring at the paper in disbelief when the phone rang. It was Ami.

         _"Have you seen the paper?"_ she wanted to know.

         "I'm looking at it right now." Bunny responded, her eyes skimming slowly through the article. 

         _"It's all over the news too. Az just called, and she had nothing to do with this. It would appear that Uranus is the one who initiated contact_." Ami hypothesized.

         "Yeah... That sounds like her all right." Bunny commented, a soft smile on her lips. "But do you think it'll work?"

         "_Hmmm... That's the question, isn't it. I talked to Az earlier today, and she said that it might. From what she remembers about him, he's extremely proud, but has some slight semblance of manners... Or what passes for manners in their society. I'm mainly worried about if he does answer._"

         "Why? If he responds, then we've got him, right" Bunny asked, confused.

         "_Well, think about it, Bunny. If you were a Scout fanatic, and you read in the paper that the Scouts were going to be having a battle in a pre-determined place, wouldn't you try and see it? We may have to deal with literally hundreds of innocent bystanders. Somebody could get seriously hurt!_" Ami explained.

         Bunny frowned. "I hadn't thought of that." She sighed, as she looked out the window, at blooming flowers. "I suppose we'll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it..."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

         Taru Shiwaki was on top of the world. He was getting great publicity for the paper, his boss was extremely impressed, as was his girlfriend, and he had more money than he currently knew what to do with. He was walking to the Train Station, heading home after a long hard days work, when it happened.

         As he moved down the sidewalk with a bounce in his step, whistling, a pigeon started to dive bomb him. It was aiming for his head, and it's coo seemed fiercer than normal.

         "Ahh! What the-?!" He batted at the bird, dropping his attaché case, as he covered his eyes with his arm. "Damn bird!" He swung wildly at it, and finally managed to knock it sprawling to the ground. The bird attempted to return to flight, but Taru pounced at it, keeping it grounded. When he did, he noticed something tied to its leg.

         "Huh?" He carefully held the bird's wings pinned with one hand, as he detached a tiny piece of paper from its leg. Curious, he unfolded it, to find a strange hand written note, addressed to him.

_Taru Shiwaki,_

_         As requested, I am replying to those brats, via your paper. You may publish the following:_

_If you would like to end this chase..._

_Then it's just about time to pick up the pace._

__

_In order to fight me,_

_You first must find me._

__

_In this place you will find simply more_

_Of this small worlds inhabitors._

__

_I shall be there at the midnight hour._

_Then is when we'll test our power._

__

_I will be waiting by the track,_

_If this riddle you manage to crack._

_~Leon_

         The pigeon had started cooing again, but whatever had possessed it was gone, and it was acting like a normal bird again. Taru released it. Ignoring the stares of the people around him, he turned around to return to his office, in order to place the add at once.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

         Michiru set down a plate in front of Hotaru, and then sat down at her place at the table. Haruka was drinking tea, and was still in her pajamas, at the northern end of the table. Hotaru was also in her pajamas, as it was Sunday, and was happily munching away at her breakfast. The rising sun poured it's light in through the windows, casting everything in a warm, yellow glow. Setsuna was absent, again. As soon as they had finished their meeting with Taru Shiwaki yesterday, she had excused herself, and hadn't been home since. Not that this was all that uncommon for her, but usually when she disappeared like this, she stayed away for a while. She had been popping in and out faster than a hyperactive child's jack-in-the-box laity. It made Michiru nervous.

         Just then, the front door opened, and Setsuna entered, carrying a rolled up newspaper in her hand. All three at the table looked up at her, expectantly. She unrolled the paper, and tossed it on the table. 

         "Hot off the press."

         Haruka nodded. "Looks like we'll be having a meeting today."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

         Everyone was gathered in Mamoru's apartment, minus Setsuna, trying to understand the riddle Leon had posed.

         "Well, the first two four lines are clear. If we want to fight him, we've got to get him out of hiding." Makoto said, as they each poured over a copy of the challenge. Even Az was there, having convinced her doctor that she would be sure to be back on time, if he would let her out for the day again.  

         "And the seventh and eighth lines make sense too. We have until midnight to break the riddle." Minako announced.

         "Yeah.... Unfortunately, with the exception of the last line, that's _all_ that's clear." Rei grumbled. "I'm not even sure if 'inhabitors' is a word, for crying out loud!"

         "Getting frustrated won't get us anywhere." Michiru was sitting next to Ami, as they tried to get their two items to work together to pinpoint the spot. "Why don't we look at what we can deduct from the middle lines. We're looking for a place that's very crowded. It also has a track."

         "Geeze. Two whole clues. He's sure generous, isn't he." Rei grumbled.

         "There!" Ami cried out triumphantly. 

         "Did you find it?" Az questioned, eagerly.

         Michiru peered into her mirror. "Not exactly... But we narrowed it down quite a bit."

         "So what are our options?" Bunny asked, standing up from where she had been kneeling on the floor.

         "Maybe the subway?" Mamoru suggested. "It has tracks, and it's very crowded.

         "I doubt it." replied Az. "That seems like it would be too open to the public. And from what I remember, he doesn't want to take the chance of someone else showing up, and ruining his glory. Besides, how many miles of track are under this city? Way more than we could check up on in one night, that's for sure. He wants to be found, or else he wouldn't have bothered with a response."

         "Ok, so forget the subway. What else?" Haruka pondered.

         "The Horse Track, the Sports Dome, the Zoo, and The Edo-Tokyo Museum." Ami rattled off the four locations, reading from her mini computer. "All those places have tracks, in some form, and are crowded at any given time. They're also all closed at midnight."

         Haruka frowned. "So how do we decide who goes where?"

         "Perhaps we could split up?" Artemis suggested. "Then, who ever found him would call the others."

         Luna nodded. "That's probably the best way to do it. We'll need to get to the Sports Dome and the museum before closing time, if we don't want to bother with the hassle of breaking in. The Horse Track and the Zoo are both open to the air though, so there shouldn't be much problem with them."

         "What time does the Sports Dome and museum close?" Haruka asked.

         "The museum closes at six on Sundays." Ami informed them. She had been there often enough to know the time schedule for each day by heart.

         "The Sports Dome probably isn't even open today, as there aren't any events going on, currently." Makoto murmured.

         Haruka checked her watch. It was three. "Well, if we want to have enough time to find a hiding spot in the museum before closing, then who ever's going there better go now. As for the sports dome, the sooner we get in there, the better, if it's locked. We don't want to be stuck outside trying to get in come midnight."

         Mamoru nodded. "Right. So. Who goes where?"

         "Why don't we pull names from a hat?" Hotaru suggested.

         "Good idea. We can use my Helmet." Haruka produced her motorcycle helmet. 

         "I'll get some paper to write the names on." Mamoru stood, and disappeared into another room, as he fetched the paper.

         After all the names had been put in the hat, and they had been sufficiently shaken up, Bunny drew out the slips of paper, one at a time.

         "Two groups will have three people. The rest will have two. Draw the three's first." Luna instructed.

         "... Minako.... Michiru...and..._Mamoru_!" Bunny's eyes became large and wet. "But... I want Mamo-chan on _my_ team!" she whimpered.

         "We can trade players later." Michiru told her. "Finish drawing the names.

         Bunny sniffed, but did as she was told. ".... Haruka.... Rei and... Me. The next group is.... Makoto and.... Hotaru. The last group is.... Az and.... Ami obviously, as she's the last one left."

         Artemis nodded. "I think those are fairly well balanced teams. Don't you, Luna?"

         "Yes. So. Minako, Michiru, Mamoru, why don't you take the Edo-Tokyo Museum. Haruka, Rei, Bunny, you take the Horse Track. Makoto, Hotaru, you can take the Sports dome, and Az and Ami, why don't you take the zoo. Does that sound good to everyone?"

         Everyone nodded, except Bunny and Haruka.

         "Are you sure I can't have Mamo-chan on my team?" Bunny whimpered.

         "Yes." Luna said firmly.

         "Hotaru." Haruka said. "If you're going to be on your own-"

         "Hey!" Makoto protested.

         "I mean, with out another member of the outer senshi, you have to promise not to use 'Death Reborn Revolution.' I don't care whether or not Setsuna told you to try it out; you're going to be in a building filled with very expensive, heavy stuff. I don't want to hear that any of it's damaged, or that it fell in on you or Makoto."

         "Don't worry, Haruka-papa." Hotaru looked at the floor, blushing. "I won't. I promise."


	6. Chapter Five

 "Three, please." Michiru stood in front of the ticket booth of the Edo-Tokyo Museum. It had taken an hour to get to the museum, so it was now four o'clock. Above them loomed the massive bulk of the museum itself. 

            The Edo-Tokyo Museum looked something like a cruise ship, on stilts. A long, red escalator with a domed in clear top would take them to the sixth floor, where the permanent exhibitions were located. 

            Minako looked all around, having never been there before. Noticing a pile of free pamphlet, she grabbed one, and began reading.

            _Welcome to the Edo-Tokyo Museum_ a small cartoon dog was saying. _The Edo-Tokyo Museum was founded on March 28, 1993, as a facility to preserve the historical awareness to develop the better future of Tokyo._

_            In the Permanent exhibition area, there can be found original and replicated exhibits, as well as large-scale models, faithful representations of their originals, which have been reproduced after painstaking investigations and research._

_            Visitors can learn about the history and culture, and the daily life of Edo-Tokyo while having fun._

_            At the Special exhibition gallery, visitors appreciate selected exhibits on subjects related to Tokyo's history and culture, scheduled several times a year._

_            There is also the Library, the Audio-visual hall, and the Audio-visual library to learn more about the history and culture of Edo-Tokyo. _

_            Events and lectures are scheduled at the Hall and Lecture rooms that are available for private use._

            "Wow," Minako looked back up to the museum, which towered above them, "I can't believe that I'm actually _here_."

            Mamoru smiled. "Yeah, I know. It's a very nice place... And it's put together in just such a way that everything's nicely accessible."

            "No... That's not it." Minako shook her head as they stepped on to the escalator. "I mean, I can't believe that _I'm_ here, instead of Ami. I know she'd enjoy this sort of thing more than me."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            "It smells like horses here." 

            Sailor Mars shot a look of disgust at Sailor Moon. They were sitting in the stands, looking down at the dirt track.  "Well, I personally can't possibly perceive why, seeing as how we're at a _horse track_."

            Sailor Moon sniffed. "Well, it does..." She whimpered. 

            Sailor Uranus rolled her eyes, and looked at the sun, to make out the time of day. Around five o'clock. She sighed. It was going to be a looooong wait, with these two.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            "See anybody?" Sailor Saturn whispered, as Sailor Jupiter stood on top of a street lamp she had climbed to get a better view of the area. At six o'clock, the sun was just starting to set, but the two girls were on the side of the building, away from the busy main street, and it was unlikely that anyone would be coming this way.

            "Nope. Go ahead." Jupiter called back down.

            Saturn grinned. She knew she shouldn't be enjoying this, but...

            **_SHIIIIINKKK!_**           

            The locked doors slid open, as Saturn let her scythe fall, sliding in the crack between the double doors, cutting the lock in two.

            Jupiter jumped down from her place of lookout. "I don't know why Haruka was worried about entry. That was easy as pie." She smiled down at the short, yet powerful child.

            Saturn shrugged, feeling pleased with Jupiter's praise. "She can be like that. Come on. Let's go find a hiding spot!"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            At seven o'clock, the zoo was closed, and completely deserted by all but a few after-hour workers and janitors. Sailors Mercury and Titan stood outside, trying to figure out how to face the immense task that faced them.

            "Mercury, this zoo is huge! How are we ever going to know where to wait?" Titan lamented.

            "Well... Lets see if I can't lessen the area we have to cover." Mercury brought out her mini-computer, and began to try to figure out areas that didn't need to be worried about. A few moments later, she spoke, "Well, we don't have to bother with the reptile house, or....Hmmm...." She paused, as she scanned the information the computer was bringing up. "Ah. The insect and arachnid house. Both of those are too far off the main track, and are dead ends, so we can safely exclude them."

            "Great.... But how much more does that leave for us to cover?" Titan looked out over the zoo.

            Mercury joined her in viewing the massive expanse of the zoo. "Quite a bit."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            Tuxedo Mask braced his arms and legs against the support beams running horizontally under the full-scale model of the Nihonbashi Bridge that stretched above the fifth floor, and connected the two islands that the sixth floor was made of. He held his breath as a security guard passed underneath him, checking that everything was secure on his final rounds. His cape was tucked up carefully behind him, pressed between his back and the bridge, so that it wouldn't hang down, and alert the guard to his presence. He beseeched the gods to let his top hat stay on his head.

            Meanwhile, Sailor Neptune was hiding behind a sliding door, in a Kabuki theater display. She could make out the shapes of the thee life sized mannequins placed in front of her hiding place, that were displaying costumes from the play 'Sukeroku.' Her hiding place was part of an exhibit, so she didn't have to worry about a guard opening the door, because that would require going through the carefully arranged display. 

            Just then, she heard the sounds of footsteps coming from the main area of the museum. It sounded like the guard that had been patrolling was taking his final rounds... It also sounded like he was walking under the Nihonbashi Bridge. Neptune sucked in her breath, as the steps stopped. The quiet was deafening for a moment. Neptune found herself picturing Tuxedo Mask falling from his hiding place... The guard turning, and, seeing the mask, open firing.... Then, the footsteps resumed, and Neptune let out her breath. It sounded like the guard was heading to the other end of the building. Hopefully, he wouldn't run in to Sailor Venus's hiding spot.

            Sailor Venus had been just about to doze off, in her hiding spot under an old, vintage car in the 'Modern Tokyo' section, when her eyes snapped open, and her breath stopped. Her wide, blue eyes were gazing at a reflection of themselves in a pare of shiny, carefully polished guard's shoes. They were pointed directly at her. Venus trembled quietly. Had he found her? Could he see her in the reflection on his shoes? Was he about to haul her out of her hiding place?

            Venus's enormous eyes grew to an even larger size, as the guard knelt down on one knee.

            _"Ohhh man! This is it! He's found me for sure!"_ Venus panicked in her head, but managed to remain perfectly still. 

            Then the guard sighed, and began tying his shoe. Venus quietly let out her breath, as the guard finished, and stood, and began walking away. 

            She smiled to herself. _"I don't know what you were worried about,"_ she thought to herself, _"Your hiding spot is perfect!"_

            Venus stopped patting herself on the back as the guard turned back to face the car again. His feet moved swiftly back over to the car, and he knelt down again. She held her breath, and closed her eyes, as if thinking that it would make him go away.

            "Ah! What luck!" The guard exclaimed. Venus opened her eyes in time to see him picking up a 500 yen coin from next to the front right tire. Standing, the guard pocketed the coin, and walked away.

            There was silence as the guard completed his final check, and then the unmistakable slam, as the doors were shut and locked. The only light that remained was the lighting from the exit signs, casting an eerie red glow on the displays.

            Tuxedo Mask released his locked joints, and dropped to the ground, landing safely, as his cape fluttered out around him. Sailor Neptune stepped calmly from behind the sliding door, and carefully made her way out of the display, her mirror held close to her body. Sailor Venus sighed with relief, and rolled out from under the car, and climbed to her feet. The three met up again outside the 'Tokyo, City of the World' display.

            "What time is it?"  Tuxedo Mask wanted to know.

            "11:30," Neptune answered him, looking in to her mirror.

            "Half an hour left." Venus stated, as she looked up at the security camera positioned in a corner between a wall and the ceiling. Before they had gone into hiding, Mamoru had disabled the security cameras, while Michiru and Minako had kept the guards busy, so they didn't need to worry about that. 

            "Might I suggest that we go watch the track?" Neptune said, referring to the moving sidewalk that made a complete loop around from the third floor to the sixth.

            "Good idea. I'll patrol the third and fourth floor. Why don't you take the fifth, Venus, and Neptune, you can take the sixth." Tuxedo mask suggested.

            "Sure." Venus shrugged.

            "Sounds good to me." Neptune agreed. 

            The three then split up, and went to their respective floors. The moving sidewalk was no longer moving, so they had to actually walk on their own will. Every now and again, they would shout to each other, asking the time, or checking how everything was going.

            Then, at exactly midnight, all three heard a shattering of glass, coming from the third floor. Tuxedo Mask, who was on the fourth floor at the exact moment, was the first to arrive at the scene. What he saw was an impressive looking male silhouette, standing in a pile of shattered glass. The hair was cut close to the head, and then flared out around the shoulders. The man was carrying a whip in his right hand, and his shoulders were tense.

            Venus and Neptune skidded to a stop, and joined Tuxedo Mask in looking down at the man, who was now advancing on them. They could now see his face. This had to be Leon. 

            Sailor Venus pulled out her communicator, to contact the others, but before she could even activate it, the whip, which had remained in the Leon's hand, lashed out, and shattered the small communicator. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            "Ow!.....Ha!"

            "......Oww!..... Owie!...."

            Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars were playing slaps to pass the time. Mars was winning. Sailor Uranus sat nearby, sighing, and watching the two through her fingers, which were splayed across her face in a gesture of exasperation.

            "OW! Mars, that one really hurt!" Sailor Moon whined, withdrawing her hands, and rubbing them together.

            Mars shrugged. "Then don't play anymore."

            Uranus stood up. "Oi." She called over to the two younger scouts. "I think we should probably get ready. It's nearing midnight."

            "Ok." Sailor Moon and Mars answered. They had already agreed on their places. Uranus was going to wait by the front entrance, and Mars by the back. Sailor Moon was going to wait in the center of the horse track.

            The three moved to their spots, and all became quiet as they waited for midnight to arrive. They didn't have to wait long.

            Sailor Moon was looking up at the night sky. The moon was in a waxing crescent, and she couldn't help but to look. 

            _"I used to live there."_ She thought to herself. _"I wonder if there's anything left of the palace. Perhaps it's buried on the dark side._"

            Her tranquil thoughts were broken as she heard Sailor Mars scream. Her head whipping around fast enough to nettle her eyes with her pigtails, to see Leon charging her, whip out, and a devilish, wicked smile on his face. She whipped out her pocket communicator, just in time to have Leon snatch it away from her, as he tackled her like a football player. It crunched in his powerful grasp, and the pieces fell to the ground.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            "Goal!" Jupiter cried, as she blasted a soccer ball into the net, around Saturn. They were playing in the indoor field, which had could be used for soccer or baseball surrounded by a running track, and bleachers.

            "No fair! I can't use my hands, Jupiter!" Saturn jokingly pleaded, as she held out her scythe. "Next time, I get offence!"

            Jupiter smiled. She really enjoyed being with Saturn. Despite being the most powerful senshi, Saturn was also a child, with a child like mentality. Taking care of, and being her friend gave Jupiter a nice counter balance for some of her more aggressive tendencies.

            "Sure thing." Jupiter smiled. Glancing over at the glowing read clock on the wall, however, made her change her mind. "On second thought, I think we better start getting serious. It's almost midnight, and-"

            Jupiter never finished, as a hand weight came flying across the room, hitting her in the base of her skull.

            "Jupiter!" Saturn shrieked, as the tall brunet hit the ground, unconscious. She looked up to see Leon slowly advancing on her, his whip stretched between his hands.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            Sailor Titan sat down on a bench, that faced the safari area. She moaned, "Mercury... My feet are killing me!"

            Sailor Mercury collapsed next to her. "Mine too. How many times do you think we've lapped this place?"

            "Fifty-six and a half. Exactly." Titan put one of her feet on to her knee, and started to massage it through the boot. "What time is it?"

            Mercury pulled out her computer. "It's 11:59.... No wait, it just changed to Midnight." She stood. "I think we better stay active. He's due any moment now, and if he doesn't show up here, then we're going to need to be ready to help the others."

            "Right." Az stood, and stretched. "Do you have any guesses as to where he'll show up? I mean, if he shows up here at all?"

            "How about.... Right behind you?" Leon's eerie voice drifted over the scouts's shoulders. Both girls leapt away, to see Leon, looking quite pleased with himself, standing on the other side of the bench.

            Ami snatched her communicator from its sub-space pocket. "Everyone! Leon's at the Zoo!" She stopped short when she nobody answered her distress call. "Wha....?" She looked at the device in confusion.

            Leon was shaking his head, and making a 'tisk-ing' noise at them, as he slowly advanced. "Girls... Do you really think that I'd allow you people to gang up on me? You only made it easier for me by separating yourselves." He lunged.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            "Submarine... REFLECTION!"  Neptune pointed her mirror at Leon as the attack was unleashed, and sent hurtling at him. He dodged out of the way only to run into Tuxedo Mask's cane.

            "Venus Love Me Chain!" Venus unleashed her golden chain into the back of Leon's back. It buried itself deeply in his back, causing a scream of agony to echo through the night.

            They were fighting in the large out door area under the museum, which was lucky, because they probably would have destroyed several irreparable artifacts if they had fought indoors.

            Leon reached around to his back and pulled the chain out, letting out a gush of black-green blood in the process. The chain disappeared as soon as Leon let go of it.

            "Venus Love and Beauty SHOCK!" Venus called out a different attack. Leon spun to face it, and it seamed to everyone present that he was about to be hit, when he opened his mouth to a hideously large size, and flicked out a long, sticky tongue, that hit one of the support columns, and pulled him out of the way. The attack smashed into the ground, leaving a considerable dent.

            Tuxedo Mask threw a garden bed of roses at the Leon, most of them hitting the intended mark. Leon screamed again.

            Neptune was about to let loose another attack, when something hit her. This was too easy. She turned her back to Leon, and held her mirror above her head, at an angle so that she could see Leon in it. "Mirror, show me the true nature of that creature!" The mirror flashed, and when it cleared again...

            "Venus! Tuxedo Mask! That's not Leon!" Neptune whirled around to face the battle again.

            Venus stopped in mid motion of an attack, and looked at her. "What do you mean? Who is it then?"

            "Kagemusha, show your true form now, or we will destroy you!" Neptune commanded.

            'Leon' stood, a strange, slightly out of place grin on his face. "What's the point? You're going to destroy me anyway!" His voice was surprisingly high pitched, and airy.

            "You can die in your true form, or you can be hindered by your masters, and die sooner. It's your choice." Neptune declared.

            "Well.... When you put it like that..." Leon suddenly began to look very blurry. As the three watched, the form blurred until it was quite impossible to tell what it was, and then began to solidify again. When it did, it was in the form of a seven-foot tall girl-like-lizard creature. Her skin was a greenish-blue colour, and she had a Mohawk of the same colour. Her eyes were bright yellow, and tended to look in two different directions at once. Her large mouth stretched all the way across her face in a permanent mock grin. "My name's Shui Kyokou Tokage. As your watery companion must have figured out, I'm a Chameleon Kagemusha. My sisters are taking care of your other friends. And now that I don't have to worry about staying in Leon's shape... This will be much more fun!"

            "We will see about that." Tuxedo Mask uttered darkly.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            Sailor Mars slowly opened her eyes, wincing at the pain in the back of her head. _"Where am I? What's going on? The last thing I remember is playing 'Slaps' with Sailor Moon..."_ She closed her eyes again, trying to clear her thoughts. _"That's right!"_ She suddenly remembered. _"I was guarding the back entrance when I sensed an evil..."_ Her eyes snapped open. _"Sailor Moon! She's in Danger!"_ She started to reach for her communication device, before she remembered that it had been broken... But how? She put her hand out to try and help her self to her feet, and screamed in pain. Looking down, she saw the fragments of her demolished communication device.... They were still in her right hand... Her now very severely broken and shattered hand. 

            Switching over to her left hand, she pushed her self to her feet, and began to feel dizzy. Looking out over the track, she saw Sailor Uranus fighting feverously to protect Sailor Moon. Silently walking over the uneven turf, Sailor Mars stopped when she was only five feet away from the battle. She produced an omamori and flicked it ridged. She then threw it with a cry at Leon.

            Leon, in response, burst in to flames, and screamed in torment.

            "Mars!" Uranus yelled, "I'm glad to see you! What happened to your hand?" 

            "Later. Look!" Mars yelled back. 

            Leon had begun to melt...Or something. The flames roared higher and brighter, until Leon was no longer visible. Mars quickly took the opportunity to dash around to stand next to Uranus. Almost as soon as she had reached Uranus's side, the flames surrounding Leon exploded outwards in a final, blazing blast, knocking Uranus and Mars to the ground. Sailor Moon, who had been kneeling in the dirt, was squished flat under the two other scouts. 

            The person in front of them wasn't Leon.

            She was about seven feet tall, with brown-green skin, and bright orange eyes that moved independently. Her hair was the same colour as her skin, and in a short bowl cut around her head. She had very large, clawed hands. She was breathing heavily, and her skin was taking on a slightly charred look.

            "Who are you?" Sailor Mars demanded, as she climbed to her feet, careful to protect her injured hand.

            Uranus launched herself to her feet. "And where's Leon?"

            "My name's Jii Akuhu Tokage. I'm the second of the Chameleon Sisters.... And I will destroy you!"

            "Wrong. You are the one who will be destroyed." Sailor Moon spoke. She was now standing, and pointing her scepter at Jii Akuhu. Mars and Uranus stepped to ether side of her, allowing a direct path from her baton to Jii Akuhu. "Moon... Spiral...Heart.... ATTACK!"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            "JUPITER!" Saturn yelled again, as Leon shot out his whip. Lifting her scythe, Saturn managed to block the attack, by having the tip of the cat-o-nine-tails wrap around the shaft of the powerful staff.

            "Foolish." Leon said, before yanking his end of the whip, jerking Saturn from her feet. Refusing to let go of her scythe, she hit the ground, and was pulled across the astro-turf, to Leon's feet. With a finally yank, he pulled Saturn back to her feet, and then, into the air, dangling her from her scythe, in front of his face. "What does it feel like to face your demise?" he taunted her.

            "What's it feel like to be facing Death?" She spat back.

            Leon laughed. "You're a little hell-cat, aren't you? To bad you have to die now."

            "Who are you?" Saturn asked. Her child's eyes had turned icy cold.

            "I'm Leon, your destroyer."

            "An interesting comment to make to the harbinger of destruction." Saturn narrowed her eyes. "Besides that point, you're not Leon. His voice is different." Saturn snorted and shot a glance to the floor, which her feet were dangling far above. "He's also much shorter. Who are you?" She repeated.

            Leon smiled. "You're quite observant, aren't you, brat?" He released the whip in one smooth motion, throwing Saturn across the room.

            Landing on her feet, the small purple clad girl pointed her scythe at Leon. "You _will_ reveal who you are."

            Leon narrowed his eyes... And suddenly, he wasn't Leon anymore. In his place stood a lizard like kagemusha that towered almost eight feet above the floor. Her skin was a brown blue colour, and her spiked hair was of the same tone. One of her red-black eyes focused on Saturn, the other on Jupiter, who was moaning on the floor. She had a long tail that flicked behind her, and her arms were crossed across her chest, and her tiny mouth was smiling an evil smile that revealed her pointed teeth. "My name's Sanban Henkei Tokage. I'm one of three in a set sent out to distract you brats while my master gets rid of you at his pleasure. Don't think that that makes me an easy opponent, however."

            "I wouldn't dream of it. But don't think that I'm an easy opponent, just because I'm small."

            "Then we are agreed that this will be an interesting fight." Sanban Henkei raised an eyebrow. "A fight to the death."

            Saturn raised her scythe. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            "Shine Aqua.... Illusion!" Mercury fired her attack in the direction of Leon. 

            Leon laughed. "Really, Mercury, do you think such a poor attack will have any effect on me?" He dodged the ice water attack with a large leap.

            "Note... Bombardation!" Titan called forth her icy keyboard, and began to play notes in rapid succession.

            "Animalistic Mesmerization!" Leon cracked his whip. Instantly, five gazelles some how managed to leap from their enclosures, and in front of him. The unsympathetic crystalline notes smashed into the animals, leaving them frozen in their places. Leon howled with laughter. "What makes you think you'll win this time, Titan?"

            "What makes you think _you'll_ win again?" Titan shot back. "You don't get lucky twice."

            "I don't need luck.... Not in a place like this." Leon's grin was uncomfortably confident.

            It was then that Mercury felt the hot breath on the back of her neck. Slowly turning, Mercury was terrified to see a large, male, Bengal Tiger standing behind her. As well as a grizzly bear, several lionesses, five crocodiles, and one bull elephant. Looking in the trees around her, she saw several large birds of prey. All of their eyes were an empty black colour.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            "Venus Love Me... CHAIN!" Venus pointed her chain to smash directly into the battered, but still fighting Shui Kyokou. Again, Shui Kyokou shot out her tongue, and pulled herself away by it.

            Neptune gritted her teeth. "How are we supposed to hit her when she keeps dodging like that?!" She shouted, frustrated.

            "I've got an idea!" Tuxedo Mask shouted in reply. "Venus... Attack her again!"

            Venus nodded. "Right! Venus Love Me.... CHAIN!" Once again, the chain was sent hurtling in Shui Kyokou's direction. And once again, she spat out her tongue, sticking it to the support post.

            But as soon as the long, pink, sticky tongue stuck onto the post, Tuxedo Mask let fly with a single rose... Directly through the kagemusha's tongue, and deep into the poll, effectively pinning her in one spot.

            "Uhha?" Shui Kyokou's eyes both focused onto the end of her tongue, as she came flying into meet it. "Uuuhhhaaaa!" she screamed, as she quickly wrapped her legs and arms around the post.

            "Now! Attack her before she gets loose!" Tuxedo Mask shouted.

            "Venus Love and Beauty…. Shock!"

            "Submarine.... Reflection!"

            Shui Kyokou wailed in misery as both attacks combined, and, after a few moments of pressure from both attacks, there was a large cracking noise, and Shui Kyokou Tokage exploded into a cloud of sparkling dust. A small, wooden statuette of a chameleon sitting on a branch, sticking out its tongue to catch a dragonfly at the other end of the stick fell to the ground. There was a crack running through the carefully carved piece.

            The three walked over and peered down at it. Then looking at each other, they allowed themselves a smile, as congratulations.

            Then, becoming serious again, Tuxedo Mask said, "I think we should go check up on Sailor Moon. I've been sensing some feelings of distress from her for a bit now."

            The other two nodded, and then, they were off.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            "If that wasn't Leon, then we had better find where he _is. _It sounds like he sent some kagemusha out after us, so we're probably not the only one's to have dealt with them." Uranus said, as she absently poked the small, cracked wooden statuette at her feet. It was of a chameleon hanging upside down on a branch, it's hands and feet wrapping strongly around the branch it sat upon.

            "That's also why she went for our communication devices. We probably all would have ended up calling each other at midnight, and figured out what was going on sooner." Mars said, with her eyes narrowed, as she candled her hand into her chest. "I bet everyone else's devices are broken, too."

            "Well then, who should we go after first?" Sailor Moon asked, confused. "Leon could be in any of three other places!"

            "Make that any of two other places!" The three girls turned to see Venus, Neptune and Tuxedo Mask running into the stadium. They stopped when they reached the center, where Sailor Moon, Uranus, and Mars were standing. "Looks like Leon wasn't here, ether." Venus frowned.

            "No... A kagemusha, calling herself 'Jii Akuhu Tokage' who was impersonating Leon attacked instead. Mars made her drop her disguise when she threw an omamori at her." Uranus explained.

            As the attention shifted to Mars, Venus shouted in surprise, "Mars! What happened to your hand?!"

            "Jii Akuhu. I was reaching for my communication device, and she just reached out and engulfed my hand and my communicator in her hand, and crushed them both. She was still Leon at that point, though."

            "Here, let me stop the bleeding... You're going to need Saturn's powers to heal something that serious, though." Tuxedo Mask reached for Mars's hand, which she gently gave to him.

            "It's odd..." Neptune commented. "The kagemusha who attacked us didn't seam to have any power in her hands at all. She just had a very long, sticky tongue."

            Uranus shrugged. "Perhaps he designs his kagemusha with different characteristics. It makes sense to me."

            "So there's one more kagemusha, and Leon left. Who do you think's where?" Sailor Moon addressed the question in all of their minds.

            "Leon's at the Zoo." All heads turned to see Saturn enter, with Jupiter leaning on her. The height difference between the two girls was almost comical, if it weren't for the fact that Jupiter was almost unconscious as she walked. "A shape-shifting kagemusha attacked us. If you all are here, that means Leon's at the Zoo."

            "What happened to Jupiter?" Venus asked, as she took fighting senshi's semi-limp form away from the Saturn, allowing Jupiter to lean on her instead.

            "Sanban Henkei Tokage- the kagemusha- attacked her first. She threw a weight at her head, and knocked her out before we even knew she was there. It didn't take me long to realize that who I was battling wasn't Leon, because I've fought him before. Her form was almost perfect, but she accidentally let her height show, and her voice wasn't right. I told her what I thought, she changed back, and we fought."

            "Did she fight with her hands, or her tongue?" Neptune asked, as she knelt down, to look Saturn over.

            "Neither. She fought by shifting her shape. She even took on Sailor Moon's form at one point, to try and fool me into not attacking her." Saturn frowned. "In fact, she took on all of your forms at one point or another."

            Tuxedo Mask cringed. "Are you alright then? I mean, mentally? Fighting friends is a good strategy for someone who wants to tear up their opponent from the inside out."

            Saturn smiled her dark smile at Tuxedo Mask. "I'll be fine. I knew it wasn't you guys. The only time I had a problem was when she changed to look like Jupiter. Then she feigned unconsciousness, and I couldn't tell the difference between her and the real Jupiter to attack."

            Mars looked concerned at Jupiter. "You didn't attack her, did you?"

            "No... But it was a near thing. I'd rather not talk about it." Saturn looked at Jupiter, and changed the subject. "I healed the wounds Sanban Henkei caused, and the ones she got from being so close to my attack, but I couldn't get her to wake up fully."

            "That's alright, Saturn. You did the best you could." Uranus smoothed down her child's hair. Then, looking up at the rest of the group, she addressed them, "I think we had best get on our way to the Zoo. I think we all know that Mercury's not the strongest when it comes to all out attacks, and Titan's still new at being a scout. They probably need all the help they can get."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            "Note....BOMBARDATION!"  Sailor Titan sent her attack off towards the birds of prey, which were dive bombing them. She could barely see where to attack, due to the fact that Mercury had used her 'Shabon Spray.' It provided them with cover, but it also made it just as hard for them to see where to direct their attacks.

            "Aqua... Rhapsody!" Titan heard the Tiger thunder, as the attack must have hit it. 

            "That's seven down!" She murmured to herself, before narrowly missing having her eyes gouged out, as an eagle swooped down.

            "Note....BOMBARDATION!" She quickly sent the frosty notes whizzing after the bird, before she lost sight of it. It shouted in frustration, as it's tail feathers were suddenly frozen, starting it into a nose dive.

            They still had three lionesses, two crocodiles, the elephant, and two birds of prey left to deal with. Luckily, the elephant couldn't see well enough to trample them, and he was large enough for them to move, if he happened to spot them.

            "Come now, girls!" Leon's laughing voice cut through the mist like a deadly sharp knife. "How long do you think you can keep this up?! Even if you do manage to get rid of all these tools, I'm in the middle of a virtual bank of weapons for me! Just give it up, and die like nice little brats."

            "Shut up!" Titan screamed at him. "You haven't changed a bit since the Silver Millennium! You're still a coward who hides behind others, depending on them to do his work!"

            Titan's comment seamed to anger Leon, and she was surprised to suddenly here him so close by, as he shouted, "Ringleader's Lashing!"

            She dropped to the ground to avoid the whip, and found herself face to face with one of the remaining crocodiles. Screaming, she rolled away from it, and suddenly felt the ground drop away.

            "You weren't aware of how far this little battle carried you, were you, Titan?" He shouted after her, as she rolled down a steep, cement surface. "Perhaps I should tell you, this little smoke screen you have set up may fool the animals, but I can see right through it. You're not hiding from anyone!"

            "Titan?! Where are you?!" Mercury's frantic voice cut through the mist suddenly. "Help!"

            "Mercury? Mer-!" Titan was cut off, as she was suddenly plunged into frigid water. Coming up to the surface, she looked around, as the water dripped into her eyes. She had fallen so far, that she was below the hovering mist, and could see the enclosure she was in, as it was set bellow the level of the walking track. As she realized where she was she smiled.

            Pulling herself from the water, and on to the island in the middle, she looked down at the small, black and white bird that stood next to her, looking as surprised as a bird could.

            "Kwaaa?" It asked.

            "Don't worry... I'll be out of your home soon." Titan reassured the penguin. Walking across the artificial ice, she made her way over to a hidden pump that created a waterfall within the enclosure. Facing towards it, she called forth her keyboard, and attacked. "Note... BOMBARDATION!" As the notes collided with the pump, it froze up, creating a tremendous pressure in the water.

            "TITAN!" Mercury screamed.

            "Coming!" The pump exploded, releasing a surge of water in an eruption. Closing her eyes, and focusing on the power she had felt when she had frozen Ceen Tear into her hands, she jumped straddle legged into the upward spray, with her hands facing downward between her legs.

            The result was instant. Her sub-zero temperature hands froze the water as it came near, lifting Titan further and further into the air, as more water gushed forth.

            "KWAA!" The penguin shouted in surprise, and ran to hide in its cave.

            Once the spray reached it's maximum height, Titan leapt into the air, scanning from above for Mercury, and quickly spotted her, as she began her decent. She was cornered the two remaining crocs, and the elephant. Titan hit the ground running, once again pulling out her keyboard, which had returned to it's sub space pocket as soon as she was finished using it. "Note... BOMBARDATION!" She screamed, one of the crocs turning and trying to bite her leg, but freezing before it could snap its deadly jaws. The other crocodile tried to run, but too, was frozen before it could fully act out its intentions. The elephant swung it's massive head, knocking Mercury to the ground, but missing gouging her with his tusks, before it was also turned into ice.

            Looking around then, as she helped Mercury to her feet, Titan noticed the remaining Lionesses and Birds laying, also frozen, in large blocks of ice, from Mercury's 'Shine Aqua Illusion.'

            "Well. Looks like you Scouts have managed to surprise me again." Leon said, stepping through the now clearing mist. "I would have never guessed that such weak scouts could be so hard to kill."

            "You underestimated us, Leon. That was a deadly mistake." Mercury said, as she scowled.

            "Was it really? As I said earlier, this place is literally a bank of weapons for me." Leon smirked.

            Titan scowled. "Why don't you just give up, Leon. Admit that you messed up. Run home with your tail tucked between you legs, because this is one fight you're not going to come out of alive if you don't." She sneered. "I'm a lot stronger than I was in the Silver Millennium. Physically and Mentally. Don't think I'll let you kill me again."

            Leon said nothing, scowling back at the two girls, as the last of the mist blew away. Then, ever so fast, he released his whip. "Ringleader's Lashing!" 

            "COVER!" Titan threw up her arms across her eyes. Instantly, a dozen Bisetsu appeared, mimicking Titan's pose with their silver eyes covered. They stood in a circle around Mercury and Titan, creating a shield of ice, that Leon's whip snapped against.

            "A mere parlor trick!" Leon shouted, trying to convince himself more than frighten the girls. He called out a new attack, "Lion Claw!" He dashed forward, to the circle of Bisetsu, with his hands in an aggressive attack pose, his fingers now clawed with large, shiny black cat's claws. As he brought one hand down onto a Bisetsu, it exploded into a cloud of snow. "YES!" he cried like a madman.

            "You loose!" Sailor Titan yelled back, as she reached out, and touched Leon's outstretched hand with her own, again summoning her freezing touch.

            Leon immediately realized what he had done, as he felt his body temperature drop. "NOOOO!" He roared, as ice crystals formed from his hand, and spread up his arm, until his entire body was incased in ice.

            Mercury blinked in surprise at the sudden calm, as Leon was turned into an ice statue. She turned to Titan. "Wow. That was a great move." She complimented.

            Titan smiled weakly. "Thanks. But summoning that many Bisetsu really drained me. It's a good thing the battle's over."

            Mercury shook her head. "I don't think it's over yet. I tried to call the others, but no one answered the distress call. I think they might be in trouble too."

            "How? Leon was here, attacking us. It's not like he could be in more than one place at once." Az said, sitting down on a frozen lioness like she was a bench.

            "No.... No he couldn't... But he might have sent kagemusha after-" Mercury never had a chance to finish her hypothesis. Without warning, Leon had exploded from his ice prison, with a terrifying roar.         Both girls were on their feet facing their adversary when they realized that this was a fight far from over. Leon had changed shape. 

            Before, he had been a pleasant looking ringleader with pointed ears... Now, he looked like a very powerful version of one of his kagemusha... A Lion Kagemusha. His hair was no longer slicked down, and created a wild mane around his face. His pointed ears still managed to show through, however. His nose had elongated and turned black. His dark green eyes were no longer dark, and the pupils were stretched like a cat's. Sharp teeth protruded from his mouth, and a light yellow fur grew all over his body. His hands now both were permanently in the 'Lion's Claw' attack mode, and looked deadlier than ever. He was balanced up on his toes, which had merged into three large toes on each foot, with a large black claw extended from each. All that remained of his clothing were his gray knickers, from the back of which protruded a twitching lion's tail.

            He looked mad.

            "Really girls..." He growled, as he slowly advanced on them, "I tried to be reasonable. I was more than fair.... But _you wouldn't die_!" He screamed, showing all of his jagged teeth. "Now... You've _forced_ me to be firm!" He pounced, leaping a good twelve feet into the air, claws extended, arms outstretched.

            "_RUN!"_ Mercury screamed, as they both bolted in two different directions, to avoid being hit by Leon.

            Mercury continued running for a time, until she realized that Leon had decided to chase Titan, instead of her. She looked back in the direction she had came from, a worried expression on her face. She could hear Leon roaring, and it was disturbing the animals.  She grabbed her communication device. _"I know it didn't work before... But maybe it will. I've got to try!"_ She thought desperately.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            "Uhnnnn..." Jupiter moaned. Uranus, who was helping Tuxedo Mask support her as they made their way to the zoo, looked at her, concerned. Jupiter's large, green eyes fluttered open.

            "Oi!" Uranus called to the others to stop. "She's waking up!"

            "My.... Communicator...." She murmured.

            "They were all destroyed in the battles, remember?" Venus reminded the slightly dazed scout.

            "No!" Saturn suddenly shouted. "Jupiter's wasn't destroyed! She was knocked out before she could even go for it!"

            "Get it out!" Mars commanded.

            Jupiter's eyes focused, unfocused, and then focused again, as she blinked several times. Then, she shifted her weight on to her own feet, and pulled her arms from around Tuxedo Mask and Uranus. She then pulled out her communicator, which was beeping frantically. Sailor Moon took it, and pressed the answer button. Immediately, Sailor Mercury's face appeared on the view screen.

            "Guys!" The slightly metallic ring to her voice was due to the communicator. "You gotta get here now! We're in big trouble and-" an earth shaking roar was heard in the background of her message, "I don't know how long we can last. He powered up!"

            "We're coming as fast as we can, but Jupiter's hurt, and so's Mars. We can't move very fast." Sailor Moon replied.

            "We don't have that much time!" Mercury looked worried. "If you have to, leave them behind, because we can't last much longer. Hurry!" The screen blipped off, turning dark.

            Mars frowned. "She's right. Jupiter and I are only slowing you down. Leave Jupiter with me, and go ahead. We'll head back to her apartment. It's closest."

            Jupiter nodded, as she swayed on her feet. "...Yeah.... Sorry... Should'a sensed.... the attack..."

            "There's no use in going over it now, we've got to hurry." Venus reminded everyone. 

            "Right. Let's go." Neptune agreed.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            "Give.... It.... UP!" Leon accentuated each word, as he attempted to claw Titan down the middle. "You... Will.... Die!"

            Titan dodged his attacks, but only nearly. She had no training in marshal arts, and was not at all suited to hand to hand combat. And because Leon wasn't about to allow himself to be fooled into being turned into an ice statue again, Titan was put very much on the defense.

            "Why... Are you doing this?" She asked, as she jumped a deadly clawed kick.

            "What's with you scouts, and needing reasons behind what you do?" Leon growled back. "Can't you understand that sometimes-" He suddenly kicked her feet out from under her, sending her crashing to the ground, "you don't need-" He punched at her, but she rolled away, making him hit the ground, leaving quite an pothole, "a reason to-" he punched at her with the other hand, while leaving the first hand in place, so when she rolled again to dodge, she was trapped between his arms, "do. What. You. Do." He spoke slowly, leaning over, so his face was nose to nose with Titan's.

            Titan recoiled upon feeling his humid, unpleasant breath on her face.

            Leon roared, and was about to bite Titan's neck, and rip out her throat, when he was distracted.

            "Shine Aqua... ILLUSION!" The stinging ice water knocked Leon off of Titan, and into a nearby wall, freezing him into a block of ice.

            Titan quickly got to her feet. "Where were you?"

            "Contacting the others." She looked back at Leon, and his ice prison. "Don't look now, but that's not going to hold him for long. The ice is cracking again!" Indeed it was. Even through the ice, the girls could see how his eyes were glowing with a blood red anger.

            "What are we going to do? We're not strong enough to get rid of him!" Titan wailed.

            "Try a new attack."

            Both girls turned to see Pluto standing behind them, her large staff, as always, in her hands.

            "What?" They both chorused.

            "Titan. You have a plethora of attacks. Most are unavailable to you right now, but there is one, besides 'Note Bombardation,' that you should have access to right now."

            "But she's only been a scout for four days! It took us months to power up our attacks!" Mercury protested in disbelief.

            "Titan belongs to a special group of senshi. She has another attack she can use." Pluto turned to face Titan. "You just have to remember it."

            "GRAAAAUUUUUAAAAAAA!" Leon broke the top half of his icy dungeon, but his legs were still trapped. "I'M COMING FOR YOU!" He thundered, as he began to punch and claw at the ice around his legs.

            "Hurry, Titan. You don't have much time!" Pluto urged.

            Titan nodded, and closed her eyes, searching her mind for anything.... Anything at all! Pictures filled her head, as she accessed her new memories of the Silver Millennium. _"Season of... No, that's not it! Musical..... No, that one's not it ether...."_ Suddenly she remembered. Her eyes snapped open, just as Leon finished freeing his legs with one final yell of triumph.

            Titan laced her fingers together in front of her eyes, excepting her thumbs, which both pointed upwards, towards the sky, and had a thin line of blue light strung between them. Then, she slowly pulled them far apart, to ether side of her face. "Senshi..." She began, as beams of light burst from her fingertips, and connected her fingers together, in the same way that her thumbs were connected. "...Staff..." She brought her right hand down in a swinging arc, so that her hand was at a right angle to her arm, which was now crossing her body at the hips. This action caused a new blue beam to be formed in the air, to which the original five the beams of blue light connected at, creating ten rows of lines, that hovered in the air in front of her, ending on her right side in the new blue beam. She then quickly brought down her left hand to clasp her right, creating another line of blue light, closing in the ten lines. She rotated her body slightly away, as a treble clef sign appeared on the top five lines, and a bass clef appeared on the lower five. Then, with one final yell, she swung her hands forward, with the fingers splayed, hands at right angles, towards Leon who was now charging her. "SEARCH!"

            The staff- for it was now apparent that that was what her attack was imitating- rotated, and began to extend, creating measure after measure of blank musical staff.  Then, as it neared Leon, the lines separated, and wrapped around Leon's wrists, ankles, neck, legs, arms, and tail. Titan grabbed the beginning of the staff, hands wrapped around the first bar, and yanked it viciously. The result was immediate. Leon stopped charging and began howling. The lines had tightened at Titan's yank, and were biting into Leon's flesh.

            "Damn you!" He howled, as he tried to snap the staff with his claws. 

            "Ah-ah!" Titan scolded, and yanked upon the staff again. This time, she drew blood. She turned to Pluto and Mercury. "I can hold him, but I can't finish him off!"

            "I can." Sailor Moon stated, as she and the rest of the scouts, minus Mars and Jupiter, dashed up. Leon howled in frustration.

            "Damn you all! You damn scouts don't know how vulnerable you are!" He snarled.

            "I gave you more than enough time to talk, and both times, you passed up the opportunity. You will be silent now!" Titan shouted back, yanking the staff again, causing Leon to bellow in agony.

            "I can purify you. You wouldn't die, and you could lead an entire new life, free of the pain of your current master!" Sailor Moon offered.

            Leon snarled, baring all of his deadly teeth. "I said it in the Silver Millennium, and I'll say it again-_ UNINTERESTED!_"

            "Then you leave me no choice." Sailor Moon said sadly. Reaching into her sub-space pocket, Sailor Moon retrieved the Purity Chalice. "Crisis.... Make UP!"  The multi-coloured butterflies flew from the cup, successfully transforming Sailor Moon into Super Sailor Moon.  She then brought forth her wand, and proceeded to call her attack. "Rainbow.... Moon.... Heart... ACHE!"

            Leon's wide eyes reflected the bright pink light of the large heart-printed ribbon of manna flying towards him, his mouth open, and thundering in his deep, frightening voice, a final protest.

            Titan released Leon from the staff, as he was crushed by Sailor Moon's power. As the pink light faded, Leon dropped to his knees. "...D-damn you..." He muttered, before pitching forward. To everyone's surprise, he then began to melt in to a black-purple puddle which, then evaporated, and Leon was gone.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            "Azrielle, you _do_ realize how incredible this is, don't you?" Dr. Iincyou, the head doctor and Azrielle's personal psychiatrist. "You've been here for the briefest period of time... But suddenly, you are 100% better. You said in an earlier session that you were hearing a voice taunting about the deaths of your family. Even that's stopped?"

            Az smiled. "Yes, Doctor. I feel better than I ever have in my life, now."

            Dr. Iincyou bit the top of a pen absently. "What do you think caused this change? Perhaps we can use your experiences to help others with symptoms like yours."

            "I don't think so, Doctor." Az lowered her eyes. "You see, I owe my recovery to my friends."

            The doctor lifted up a sheet and peered at something on his desk. "Ami Mizuno? The girl who came and picked you up twice?"

            Az nodded. "Yes. With her help, and the others, I've been able to see that....That my life isn't the same as it was. It's better. I have a new chance now, and I want to do it right. What's in my past is in my past. I can't help it, but I can continue to live. Ami... She's helped me find my new purpose in life." She smiled again. "Doctor... You have been so helpful to me. But I don't need you anymore."

            "So.... You'd say that good friends are what cured you?" Dr. Iincyou asked, writing on a note pad.

            "Good friends... And fate, yes." Az said.

            Dr. Iincyou sighed, and stood up behind his desk, tossing his note pad aside. "Well, we can't keep you here, if you want to go." He smiled. "I'll go draw up the papers for your release."

            Az practically glowed. "Thank you, Dr. Iincyou." she called after him as he left. Turning back around in her chair, she noticed that his note pad had fallen so that it was facing her when Dr. Iincyou had tossed it. All he had written was a large, bold question mark.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            "Haruka, your plan worked perfectly. Thanks to you, I was able to repay the debt I owed Leon." Az said, bowing deeply. "Thank you ever so much."

            Haruka blushed ever so slightly. "It's nothing that any of the other's wouldn't have done... And you would have done the same for me."

            Makoto frowned. "I wish I could have been there. I hate missing the action!" She complained, rubbing the sore spot at the base of her neck with one hand.

            It was two days after Leon's death, and Az had been released with a clean bill of health. Now, Everyone was gathered at the Hikawa Shrine, in the back yard area. Az had all of her suitcases and other belongings with her.

            Ami looked Az in the eyes. "You don't have to leave." She stated, addressing the topic that the others had been avoiding. "You could come live with me."

            Az smiled sadly. "There's nothing I would like more, Ami. But right now, I think I need some time to think about everything that has happened." Az saw Ami's mouth open. "Alone. The doctors said I was better, but I still have some feelings that need to be sorted out. I'll be back, eventually. I promise. But for now.... I need to be alone."

            Ami sniffed, as tears began to well up behind her eyes. "I- I'll miss you Az!" She threw her arms around the tall American girl. Az looked surprised for a moment, and then hugged Ami back. 

            "I'll miss you too, Ami. But I'll be back. It's not like I'm leaving for ever." She separated from Ami.

            "I know that..." Ami sniffed again. "I- It's just that... Well, you've become such a good friend. I'm going to miss you so much!"

            "She's not the only one, Az." Bunny spoke up. "We're all going to miss you." The others nodded.

            "It's not every day that a new scout awakens." Hotaru explained. 

            "We're all connected with that special blessing... And we like to take care of each other." Rei stated.

            Az nodded. "I think I should go now."

            "I agree. Sometimes the worse good byes are the ones that are too prolonged." Setsuna conformed.

            "The coast is clear. You better go now." Luna announced.

            Minako nodded. "Right! Ready....?"

            "Moon Crystal Power!"

            "Mercury Planet Power!"

            "Mars Planet Power!"

            "Jupiter Planet Power!"

            "Venus Planet Power!"

            "Uranus Planet Power!"

            "Neptune Planet Power!"

            "Saturn Planet Power!"

            "Pluto Planet Power!"

            "Just think of the place you want to go, and you will be transported there." Pluto explained. "This wouldn't work on a normal person, but because you're a scout, we can send you away using the Sailor Teleport, without going ourselves."

            The nine scouts joined hands in a circle around Az, and her belongings, closing their eyes. Bright light burst from each, reaching up to the sky, the colours corresponding with the Scouts colour of choice.

            "Sailor....!" Venus yelled.

            "TELEPORT!" The others finished.

            There was a flash of rainbow coloured light and then, Azrielle was gone.

            "Good bye, Az." Mercury murmured weakly.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            "Hmph. Good riddance to bad rubbish." Copi said merrily to herself, as she destroyed Leon's belongings. The fire was snapping and exploding violently, with the release of all the evil magic from the small wooden statues that were burning.

            She smiled to herself. "He never stood a chance." Copi had, against Leon's orders, followed him to oversee his battle. She had simply shifted forms, and watched the battle at her leisure, not sure who she wanted to kill whom more. When Titan had climbed up onto the island that she had been on, it had startled her, for she was quite vulnerable in that form, but when she realized that the foolish scout couldn't sense that she wasn't actually a penguin, she had laughed in her head.

            After that, she watched as they destroyed her lesser, leaving the job- and the glory- all to her.

            "Yes... Now that _he's_ out of the way, I can prove to the Master how much I deserve to be leveled up." She grinned, exposing sharp canine teeth. "And I know just how to do it."


End file.
